TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

HEW  YORK   •  BOSTON  •   CHICAGO   •  DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •   SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON   •  BOMBAY   •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


TRAVELING 
SALESMANSHIP 


BY 
ARCHER  WALL  DOUGLAS 

CHAIRMAN,  COMMITTEE  ON  STATISTICS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE,  AUTHOR  OF  "  MERCHANDISING  " 


f  ark 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1919 

All  tights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1919 

BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  November,  1919 


PREFACE 

I  have  always  held  that  a  complete  and  thorough 
understanding  of  any  phase  of  Economics  can 
be  gained  only  by  personal  experience  or  first- 
hand study  and  observation.  Hence  this  little 
book  is  not  merely  the  usual  study  of  the  psy- 
chology of  Salesmanship,  but  rather  the  result 
of  forty  years'  close  contact  with  the  traveling 
salesmen  of  one  of  the  largest  distributing  mer- 
cantile organizations  of  this  country. 

ARCHER  WALL  DOUGLAS. 
St.  Louis, 
September  ist,  1919. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.   THE  NATURE  AND  FUNCTION  OF  SALESMANSHIP. .  I 

II.  PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD 10 

III.  WORK  ON  THE  ROAD IJ 

IV.  WORK  ON  THE  ROAD 25 

V.  CONTACT  WITH  CUSTOMERS 34 

VI.  COMPETITION  AND  PRICES. 45 

VII.  COMPETITION  AND  PRICES 55 

VIII.  COMPETITION  AND  PRICES  (CONCLUDED) 68 

IX.  SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING.    SELLING  NEW  STOCK  82 

X.  SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING — CONTINUED;  SELL- 
ING TO  ALL  DEALERS  IN  A  TOWN 95 

XL  SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING — CONTINUED;  CHANG- 
ING CHANNELS  OF  DISTRIBUTION IO5 

XII.  SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING — CONCLUDED;  AD- 
VERTISING   119 

XIII.  CLAIMS 128 

XIV.   THE  HUMAN  EQUATION 138 

INDEX 151 

vii 


TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 


TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    NATURE    AND    FUNCTION    OF    SALESMANSHIP 

General  survey  of  Salesmanship — Reason  for  Salesman- 
ship— Definition  of  the  Science  of  Salesmanship — 
Different  types  of  Salesmen — Selection  of  the  Jobber 
as  the  type  for  consideration. 

The  compelling  reason  for  the  exercise  of  the 
Art  and  Science  of  Salesmanship  consists  in  the 
elemental  fact  that  in  normal  times  there  are 
always  more  persons  who  are  eager  to  sell  than 
there  are  persons  who  are  eager  to  buy.  In 
other  words,  while  there  must  always  be  a  seller 
for  every  buyer,  it  constantly  happens  that 
there  are  many  would-be  sellers  who  have 
difficulty  in  finding  a  market  for  their  wares. 
This  is  especially  true  of  dealers  in  rare  articles, 
in  curiosities,  and  for  all  those  articles  for  which 
there  is  only  spasmodic  and  uncertain  demand. 
In  a  larger  way  this  difficulty  in  finding  a  ready 
market  for  those  who  desire  to  sell  is  one  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  real  estate  business  in  most 
parts  of  the  world.  Only  in  the  comparatively 


2         TRAVELING    SALESMANSHIP 

rare  and  fleeting  days  of  extreme  prosperity, 
when  demand  presses  hard  upon  or  else  over- 
tops supply,  does  there  arise  that  condition 
known  as  a  buyer's  market,  when  the  buyers 
are  more  eager  to  purchase  than  salesmen  are 
to  sell.  So  with  brief  and  passing  interludes 
of  "boom"  periods  in  business,  the  usual  and 
continuing  story  in  commercial  life  is  a  sur- 
plusage of  wares  seeking  a  market.  It  is  a 
curious  and  interesting  fact  of  commercial  life 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  sales  made  are 
due  to  the  skill  and  persuasive  powers  of  the 
salesman  rather  than  the  initial  desire  or  neces- 
sity of  the  buyer.  In  normal  times  the  buyer 
is  naturally  conservative  and  inclined  to  pur- 
chase only  for  his  immediate  needs.  Under 
such  conditions  the  part  of  salesmanship  is, 
after  some  fashion,  to  persuade  the  buyer  of 
the  wisdom,  or  necessity,  or  advisability  of 
making  purchases,  so  that  the  salesman  may  get 
an  order  for  his  goods.  Salesmanship  is  ele- 
mentally the  ancient  scheme  of  barter  trans- 
ferred to  a  higher  and  more  rational  plane  of 
psychology,  and  conducted  after  modern  ways 
and  methods.  In  the  Orient  the  old  ways  still 
persist,  and  a  purchase  of  even  a  modest  nature 
in  the  bazaars  is  a  serious  and  momentous  affair, 
involving  much  dialogue  and  bluffing  (as  we 


NATURE  AND  FUNCTION  3 

term  it  in  the  Occident)  until  at  last  a  compro- 
mise is  reached,  far  different  from  the  initial 
impossible  demands  of  either  party. 

In  modern  times  and  among  Western  nations 
we  largely  have  eliminated  all  useless  forms 
and  paraphernalia  of  inconsequent  and  irrel- 
evant discussion,  and  we  endeavor  at  once  to 
come  to  the  point  of  mutual  understanding. 
Yet,  withal,  an  appreciable  and  indispensable 
share  of  persuasion  is  required  on  the  part  of  the 
salesman,  and  this  attitude  is  met  by  a  natural 
indifference,  sometimes  real,  sometimes  sim- 
ulated, and  an  innate  determination,  on  the  part 
of  the  buyer  to  get  a  better  bargain  than  is  at 
first  offered  by  the  seller.  It  is  both  an  instinct 
and  a  tradition  with  the  buyer  never  to  be  eager 
in  purchasing,  but  rather  to  assume  a  reluctance 
to  buy  unless  it  obviously  be  made  to  his  ad- 
vantage to  do  so.  Often  the  buyer  is  not  in 
actual  need  of  the  goods,  and  can  afford  to  wait, 
much  more  so  and  much  longer  than  the  seller. 
It  is  here  that  the  art  of  salesmanship  comes 
into  play  in  the  psychology  of  argument,  per- 
suasion and  reasoning  which  he  brings  to  bear 
upon  the  buyer.  It  is  remarkable  how  often  he 
succeeds,  considering  how  much  stronger  nat- 
urally is  the  position  of  the  buyer.  It  is  a  com- 
mon saying  in  the  trade  that  any  man  can  sell 


4         TRAVELING    SALESMANSHIP 

goods  by  cutting  prices,  that  is,  by  making 
lower  prices  than  the  buyer  can  secure  else- 
where, but  that  it  takes  salesmanship  to  main- 
tain prices  and  still  get  the  business. 

It  is  this  latter  accomplishment  to  which  the 
art  of  salesmanship  is  directed.  The  science, 
as  distinguished  from  the  art  of  salesmanship, 
consists  rather  in  the  systematized  direction 
and  careful  handling  of  the  many  details  of  the 
salesman's  work.  It  is  quite  as  necessary  to 
successful  salesmanship  as  the  more  intellectual 
and  psychological  methods  of  artistic  persua- 
sion. It  is  only  within  the  last  generation  that 
there  has  come,  even  in  the  commercial  world, 
a  widespread  realization  of  the  true  nature  and 
importance  of  salesmanship.  Prior  to  that 
time  the  calling  or  vocation  of  a  salesman  in 
commercial  life  was  looked  upon  askance,  and 
rather  regarded  as  a  pursuit  which  did  not  de- 
mand either  great  talent  or  study  for  its  success- 
ful prosecution.  The  term  "drummers"  as  ap- 
plied to  commercial  travelers  expressed  largely 
the  estimate  of  their  standing  in  popular  regard. 
What  is  now  clear  is  that  the  principle  of  sales- 
manship is  of  universal  application  to  every  one 
who  has  something  to  offer  for  which  he  expects 
compensation.  Salesmanship  is  thus  as  much 
a  part  of  the  calling  of  a  writer  or  author  as  of 


NATURE  AND  FUNCTION  5 

a  retail  grocery  dealer,  though  the  manner  and 
method  of  such  salesmanship  necessarily  vary 
widely  according  to  the  character  of  the  calling. 
The  usual  misconception  of  salesmanship  on  the 
part  of  professional  men  and  artists  is  to  assume 
that  it  can  only  be  of  the  same  character  as  that 
very  naturally  and  properly  employed  in  the 
business  world,  namely,  solicitation,  and  con- 
sequently is  unsuitable  to  their  calling. 

The  salesmanship  of  commercial  life  is  the 
story  of  this  book,  and  its  analysis  and  exposi- 
tion are  undertaken  with  the  full  consciousness 
that  it  is  the  most  difficult  of  all  phases  of  busi- 
ness endeavor  to  describe  or  to  teach.  More 
than  of  any  other  occupation  in  commercial 
life  is  it  true  of  a  salesman  that  he  is  born,  not 
made.  Fortunately  this  is  true  only  of  the 
highest  expression  of  salesmanship.  For  by 
ceaseless  industry,  patient  study,  and  much 
hard  thinking,  many  men,  not  natural-born 
salesmen,  make  a  success  of  their  calling.  There 
is  no  formula  nor  is  there  any  certain  definition 
of  salesmanship.  Men  most  diverse  in  every  way 
make  good  salesmen,  and  apparently  by  meth- 
ods as  opposite  as  the  poles.  So  very  impos- 
sible is  accurate  analysis  as  to  the  detailed 
requisites  which  constitute  a  salesman  that  prob- 
ably the  best  definition  is  that  of  a  very  sue- 


6         TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

cessful  commercial  traveler:  "A  salesman  is  a 
man  who  sells  goods."  Careful  observation 
and  analysis  seem  to  indicate,  however,  that 
there  are  certain  traits  and  factors  common  to 
all  successful  salesmen.  Unflagging  industry,  a 
knowledge  of  their  business,  and  better  still,  a 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  such  conduct 
and  bearing  as  win  and  hold  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  their  customers,  seem  to  be  ab- 
solutely essential  requisites  to  enduring  success 
in  selling  goods. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  book  the  salesman 
for  a  large  distributing  house  (a  jobber)  is  se- 
lected as  the  type  under  consideration,  because 
of  the  wide  scope  of  his  duties  and  experiences. 
Those  analogies  common  to  the  salesman  for  a 
manufacturer  or  for  a  retailer  will  be  touched 
upon  as  they  occur.  The  ways  and  means  of 
selling  as  illustrated  in  everyday  commercial 
life  by  the  best  examples  will  be  the  subject  of 
the  following  chapters,  the  contents  of  which 
are  briefly  epitomized. 

CHAPTER  I,  THE  NATURE  AND  FUNCTION 
OF  SALESMANSHIP,  emphasizes  the  far-reaching 
character  of  Salesmanship,  both  as  an  art  and 
a  science,  and  as  being  a  calling  fitted  to  every 
phase  of  endeavor  of  men  who  have  some- 


NATURE  AND  FUNCTION  7 

thing  to  offer  in  return  for  a  livelihood  and  its 
rewards. 

CHAPTER  II,  PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD, 
explains  the  necessity  of  systematic  training  of 
the  salesman  before  he  goes  out  on  the  road; 
especially  emphasizes  the  need  of  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  goods  which  the  salesman 
expects  to  sell. 

CHAPTERS  III  AND  IV,  WORK  ON  THE 
ROAD.  These  chapters  describe  the  methods  by 
which  the  salesman  covers  his  territory,  both 
with  respect  to  broad  general  policy  and  neces- 
sary details. 

CHAPTER  V,  CONTACT  WITH  CUSTOMERS, 
brings  out  the  need  of  great  tact  and  diplomacy 
even  in  small  matters  as  well  as  in  great,  in  so 
far  as  they  bear  upon  the  all-important  study 
of  dealing  with  customers;  it  also  shows  that 
gaining  the  confidence  of  the  customer  is  the 
keynote  to  success  in  Salesmanship. 

CHAPTERS  VI,  VII,  AND  VIII,  COMPETITION 
AND  PRICES.  These  chapters  analyze  the 
difficulties  of  competition  and  the  best  methods, 
sanctioned  by  experience,  in  overcoming  these 


8         TRAVELING   SALESMANSHIP 

difficulties.  They  treat  of  the  important  matter 
of  prices,  but  show  that  price  is  not  the  all- 
important  factor  it  is  erroneously  supposed  to 
be.  Examples  are  given  of  various  ways  and 
methods  of  meeting  competition,  of  handling 
prices,  and  the  necessity  of  making  profits  on 
goods  sold  is  set  forth  in  detail. 

CHAPTERS    IX,    X,    XI,    XII,    AND    XIII, 

SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING,  treat  of  the  im- 
portance and  best  methods  of  selling  new  stocks 
of  merchandise,  of  establishing  agencies  for 
certain  lines  of  goods,  of  the  great  importance 
of  selling  to  as  many  customers  as  possible  in 
each  town,  of  quantity  prices  and  how  they  are 
to  be  handled,  of  changing  channels  of  distri- 
bution and  how  to  meet  the  difficulties  thereby 
created,  of  the  supreme  importance  of  selling 
largely  of  such  goods  as  are  profitable,  of  selling 
futures,  of  the  relation  the  traveling  salesman 
bears  to  advertising,  of  the  importance  of  small 
things,  of  the  salesman's  share  in  handling 
claims  and  credits. 

CHAPTER  XIV,  THE  HUMAN  EQUATION,  dwells 
upon  the  human  equation  as  the  most  important 
factor  in  the  problem  of  salesmanship,  as  illus- 
trated in  the  salesman's  contact  with  his  cus- 


NATURE  AND  FUNCTION  9 

tomers,  his  associates  in  his  own  firm  and  the 
people  he  meets  daily;  shows  the  value  to  the 
salesman  of  the  faculty  of  making  friends;  illus- 
trates the  capacity  possessed  by  the  salesman 
for  the  true  analysis  of  the  business  conditions 
in  his  territory  and  his  vision  as  to  the  possi- 
bilities of  his  route;  concludes  with  the  review 
of  the  ultimate  purpose  of  the  salesman  in  the 
acquirement  of  experience,  and  the  fulfillment  of 
a  most  difficult  task. 


CHAPTER  II 

PREPARATIONS    FOR  THE    ROAD 

Knowing  the  goods — Working  in  stock  or  in  a  retail 
store — Memorizing  the  numbers,  descriptions  and 
prices  of  a  line — Knowledge  of  workmanship,  packing 
and  material  of  the  lines — Familiarity  with  talking 
points — Keeping  posted  on  catalogue. 

Preparedness  for  his  job  is  the  first  essential 
of  the  salesman.  To  send  out  an  unprepared 
salesman  is  tempting  fate  and  courting  almost 
certain  failure.  Few  salesmen  under  such  con- 
ditions have  either  the  luck  or  the  resourceful- 
ness requisite  for  success.  The  primal  thing 
is  for  the  salesman  to  know  the  goods  he  expects 
to  sell. 

One  of  the  best  preparations  is  sufficiently 
long  service  as  a  stockman  in  daily  handling 
the  goods  or  else  serving  an  apprenticeship  in  a 
retail  store  so  that  he  thus  becomes  acquainted 
with  them  by  actual  contact.  He  must  know 
them  by  sight,  be  familiar  with  the  uses  to  which 
they  are  put,  and  as  far  as  possible  should  be 
able  to  call  off  the  numbers  and  names  of  the 
goods  at  sight.  Perfection  or  even  proficiency 

IO 


PREPAREDNESS  11 

in  this  latter  acquirement  is  usually  the  result 
only  of  long  experience  and  often  much  study. 
Few  things  impress  a  customer  more  favorably 
than  the  familiarity  of  the  salesman  who  calls 
upon  him  with  the  goods  he  has  to  sell.  There 
are  not  a  few  very  good  salesmen  whose  knowl- 
edge of  their  line  is  not  very  deep.  Contrari- 
wise, there  are  a  number  of  men  who  are  most 
conversant  with  their  line,  but  are  not  good 
salesmen.  Yet  it  is  none  the  less  a  serious  handi- 
cap for  the  best  salesmen  not  to  be  thoroughly 
familiar  with  their  lines.  To  have  these  lines 
at  their  fingers'  ends  is  a  most  useful  accom- 
plishment and  a  great  aid  to  success.  The  more 
complicated  the  line,  the  more  striking  and 
effective  is  a  complete  and  thorough  knowledge 
of  it. 

Embroideries  and  laces,  for  instance,  are 
lines  which  few  men,  even  among  those  who 
sell  them,  have  really  mastered.  To  know  these 
goods  intimately,  to  call  off  the  selling  prices 
by  merely  looking  at  the  articles,  to  be  able  to 
describe  them  in  detail,  "sight  unseen,"  as  is 
the  boyhood  phrase,  is  usually  the  mark  of  the 
special  salesman  and  is  consequently  one  of  the 
prime  factors  in  his  success.  Such  familiarity 
with  the  goods  always  impresses  a  customer, 
provided  it  be  displayed  quietly  and  as  a  matter 


12       TRAVELING   SALESMANSHIP 

of  course.  This  is  largely  the  psychological 
basis  for  the  success  of  the  special  salesman, 
who  makes  a  study  of  some  one  line  of  goods, 
and  thus  is  able  to  present  all  the  merits  of  the 
goods  to  the  customer  in  a  more  convincing 
manner  than  the  regular  salesman,  even  though 
the  latter  may  be,  and  often  is,  on  the  whole, 
the  better  salesman  of  the  two. 

The  human  nature  of  the  buyer  prefers  to 
deal  with  one  whose  knowledge  of  the  goods 
in  question  is  superior  to  his  own,  and  from 
whom  he,  therefore,  can  learn.  And  in  addition 
there  is  the  instinctive  admiration  we  all  feel 
for  the  man  who  is  on  to  his  job  and  knows 
whereof  he  speaks.  In  every  phase  of  the  com- 
mercial business  of  distribution  the  lines  are  so 
many  and  the  assortments  so  large  that  no  one 
salesman  can  be  a  specialist  in  them  all.  But  the 
salesman  must  have  more  than  a  passing  fa- 
miliarity with  the  staple  lines, — those  most 
frequently  sold — or  he  will  make  a  poor  im- 
pression upon  his  customers.  He  should  never 
go  on  the  road  until  he  has  at  least  attained 
that  much.  He  must  likewise  be  equipped  with 
talking  points  on  the  merits  of  his  leading  arti- 
cles. He  should  know,  for  instance,  the  mate- 
rial of  which  the  best  handsaws  are  made,  the 
peculiarities  of  the  grinding  of  the  blade  and  the 


PREPAREDNESS  13 

setting  of  the  teeth  that  they  may  saw  more 
readily  and  effectively;  also  such  minor  points 
as  the  material  of  the  handle,  the  way  and  man- 
ner by  which  it  is  fastened  to  the  blade,  and 
compactness  of  the  box  in  which  it  is  packed. 
These  details  of  material,  method  of  manufac- 
ture, and  ways  of  packing  naturally  are  sug- 
gested in  conversation  with  the  buyer  of  the 
goods  of  the  salesman's  firm,  whose  business 
it  is  to  keep  posted  on  such  matters. 

In  most  large  distributing  houses  there  are 
regular  classes  for  the  instruction  of  salesmen, 
presided  over  by  practical  experienced  men, 
sometimes  buyers,  sometimes  sales  managers, 
who  present  and  elucidate  all  matters  of  interest. 
This  makes  the  sale  of  the  goods  easier.  The 
talking  points  bearing  on  the  merits  of  an  ar- 
ticle are  of  great  moment  in  effecting  its  sale. 
Sometimes  the  demand  for  an  article  may  be 
based  almost  entirely  on  one  or  two  distinctive 
points  of  merit.  For  instance,  the  wearing 
qualities  of  a  certain  brand  of  hosiery  may  be 
their  principal  selling  point,  or  else  a  hammer 
may  have  the  handle  so  fastened  to  the  head 
that,  unlike  an  impetuous  person,  it  never  "flies 
off  the  handle."  The  salesman  must  have  all 
these  points  of  merit  well  learned  and  readily 
at  his  command  in  selling  the  goods.  For  be 


i4        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

it  remembered  that  the  goods  which  endure  in 
public  favor  are  those  of  proved  and  tried  merit, 
and  the  salesman  must  be  prepared  to  demon- 
strate the  points  of  merit  to  his  customers  in  a 
brief  and  entertaining  fashion,  and  one  entirely 
free  from  any  suspicion  of  being  didactic.  The 
average  customer  is  a  ready  enough  listener 
when  the  story  is  well  and  aptly  told,  and  does 
not  smack  of  that  learning  which  seeks  to  im- 
part knowledge  in  a  too  obviously  superior 
manner. 

The  salesman  must  also  make  himself  famil- 
iar with  the  uses  to  which  the  articles  he  sells 
are  intended  and  their  fitness  for  such  purpose. 
He  should  be  able  to  explain  intelligently,  for 
instance,  why  the  composition  and  workman- 
ship of  automobile  casings  which  he  sells  causes 
them  to  wear  so  long,  to  be  so  resilient  and  not 
to  puncture  easily. 

The  prospective  salesman  must  likewise  be 
well  posted  on  the  prices  of  the  goods  he  expects 
to  sell,  and  the  general  policy  of  his  firm  in  re- 
gard to  meeting  competition.  In  an  extended 
line  of  goods,  such  as  is  generally  carried  by 
every  large  jobbing  house,  no  salesman  can 
expect  to  be  familiar  offhand  with  the  prices  of 
more  than  a  comparatively  limited  number  of 
articles.  Necessarily  he  must  consult  his  price 


PREPAREDNESS  15 

list  or  catalogue  frequently  when  quoting  prices, 
especially  as  prices  in  most  lines  have  a  fash- 
ion of  constantly  changing.  Yet  the  good 
salesman  will  memorize  from  constant  use  a 
large  line  of  prices  of  the  goods  he  sells  fre- 
quently. His  readiness  and  ability  to  quote 
promptly  such  prices  from  memory  are  taken 
for  granted  by  the  average  customer.  So  much 
so,  in  fact,  that  the  inability  of  the  salesman 
to  do  so  always  makes  an  unfavorable  impres- 
sion on  the  customer. 

The  salesman  should  also  become  familiar 
with  the  printed  and  illustrated  catalogue, 
which  most  jobbers  of  any  size  now  issue  to 
their  customers,  or  from  which  the  salesman 
sells  goods.  He  should  know  in  which  part  of 
the  catalogue  the  different  lines  of  goods  are 
shown  and  illustrated,  and  be  able  to  turn 
quickly  in  the  book  to  any  goods  he  wishes  to 
refer  to.  In  consultation  with  the  proper  par- 
ties, he  should  post  himself  as  to  the  general 
policy  of  the  firm  in  regard  to  the  handling  of 
claims,  the  extending  of  credits,  the  collection 
of  accounts.  He  must  likewise  provide  himself 
with  all  necessary  details,  as  stationery  for  cor- 
respondence, order  books  for  taking  orders, 
expense  account  books,  and  the  like.  He  must 
carefully  select  his  line  of  samples  in  cooperation 


16        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

with  the  sales  manager  or  other  official  to  whom 
he  is  immediately  responsible,  and  who  pre- 
sumably is  thoroughly  posted  as  to  the  territory 
in  which  the  salesman  is  to  travel.  Likewise 
in  connection  with  the  same  official  he  should 
arrange  his  general  plan  of  covering  his  route, 
and  should  especially  become  familiar,  as  far  as 
possible  in  advance,  with  the  peculiarities  of 
the  customers  upon  whom  he  is  to  call,  and  the 
nature  of  the  country  which  he  is  to  cover. 

Some  jobbers  have  found  it  wise  not  only  to 
put  a  salesman  through  this  system  of  intensive 
training,  but  likewise  to  catechise  him  carefully 
before  he  goes  out  so  as  to  be  sure  that  he  has 
learned  his  lesson  well. 

The  difference  between  the  needed  training 
for  the  salesman  of  a  manufacturer  and  a  jobber 
is  one  of  degree  and  not  of  kind,  since  the  manu- 
facturer's salesman  rarely  has  so  extensive  a 
line  to  sell,  and  is  consequently  more  of  a  spe- 
cial salesman.  On  the  other  hand,  he  usually 
covers  a  wider  range  of  territory,  but  on  the 
whole  has  not  so  many  customers. 


CHAPTER  III 

WORK    ON    THE    ROAD 

Covering  his  territory — Various  merits  of  large  and  small 
routes — Working  his  territory  thoroughly — Conserv- 
ing the  salesman's  time — Exercise  of  patience  and 
display  of  modesty  invaluable  aids. 

The  first  matter  the  salesman  has  to  determine 
when  he  is  out  on  the  road  is  how  he  shall  work 
his  territory.  Shall  he  travel  fast  or  slow?  Shall 
he  hit  the  high  spots  and  thus  skimming  along, 
get  only  the  orders  ready  at  hand?  Or  shall 
he  milk  his  territory  dry  by  going  over  it  care- 
fully and  endeavoring  to  get  everything  in 
sight? 

As  usual  there  is  no  general  answer  as  to  the 
best  policy,  since  much  depends  upon  condi- 
tions and  circumstances.  If  he  has  a  very  large 
territory,  he  must  perforce  travel  faster  than 
in  a  smaller  territory.  For  it  is  as  incumbent 
upon  him  to  see  the  same  trade  just  often  enough 
as  it  is  for  him  not  to  see  it  too  frequently. 
His  main  intent  and  purpose  should  be  to  sell 
to  every  merchant  in  his  territory  as  large  a 
proportion  of  the  goods  in  his  particular  line 

17 


i8       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

as  possible  with  due  regard  to  the  ability  of 
each  customer  to  pay  his  bills  promptly.  Most 
salesmen  deceive  themselves  in  this  respect, 
and  gain  the  impression  that  their  customers 
buy  proportionately  more  goods  from  them 
than  is  really  the  fact.  It  is  a  common  occur- 
rence for  a  salesman  to  state  that  he  sells  such 
and  such  a  customer  fifty  per  cent  or  more  of 
the  goods  that  the  said  customer  buys  in  his 
(the  salesman's)  line,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  actual  percentage  may  not  be  over  ten  to 
fifteen  per  cent.  Any  impartial  observer  who 
carefully  inspects  the  stock  of  the  average  re- 
tailer and  sees  the  large  proportion  coming 
from  many  different  sources  realizes  how  widely 
distributed  are  his  purchases.  This  situation 
arises  not  only  from  the  natural,  human  desire 
of  the  dealer  to  give  orders  to  as  many  salesmen 
as  possible,  but  often,  likewise,  from  the  undue 
haste  and  hurry  of  the  salesman,  who  is  desirous 
of  getting  through  with  each  customer  as  quickly 
as  possible  in  order  to  go  on  to  the  next  one, 
that  he  may  thus  cover  another  lap  in  the  end- 
less Marathon  race  over  his  territory.  So  he 
fails  to  estimate  the  true  possibilities  of  sales 
to  each  particular  customer.  For  selling  goods, 
especially  to  the  retail  trade,  is  a  matter  requir- 
ing infinite  patience  as  well  as  infinite  tact.  As 


WORK  ON  THE  ROAD  19 

a  rule  the  salesmen  who  sell  the  largest  amount 
of  goods  are  those  who  sell  each  customer  a 
large  proportion  of  the  goods  he  buys  in  the 
salesman's  line. 

It  is  not  enough  that  the  salesman  take  the 
orders  from  the  customer's  want  book — the 
book  containing  the  record  of  the  goods  the 
customer  needs.  He  must  go  further  and  use 
the  power  of  suggestion  as  to  what  he  believes 
the  customer  may  or  will  need,  or  some  item 
of  new  goods  to  be  added,  or  some  line  to  be 
replenished  which  escaped  the  customer's  eye, 
or  the  completion  of  some  assortment,  or  nu- 
merous other  suggestions  that  ingenuity,  keen 
observation  and  business  insight  may  suggest. 

All  this  takes  time,  much  time  in  fact.  It  can- 
not be  done  successfully,  in  fact  not  at  all,  if  the 
salesman  is  too  much  bent  on  catching  the  next 
train  to  the  nearest  town.  The  more  goods  the 
salesman  sells  to  any  customer,  the  more  diffi- 
cult he  makes  it  for  his  competitors  to  sell  goods 
to  that  customer.  Also,  it  is  cheaper  in  many 
ways  to  sell  large  amounts  to  one  customer  than 
the  same  volume  to  many  customers.  Selling 
to  each  customer  as  many  goods  as  he  can  well 
pay  for  is  usually  good  policy  and  should  be  the 
ultimate  ambition  of  most  salesmen. 

But,  of  course,  this  plan  has  its  limitations 


20        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

and  is  not  always  either  feasible  or  practicable. 
Under  certain  conditions  it  may  be  better  judg- 
ment and  more  profitable  to  go  on  to  the  next 
town,  where  there  is  a  reasonable  certainty  of 
getting  good  orders,  than  to  stay  over  where 
he  is  with  the  full  knowledge  that  the  few  ad- 
ditional orders  he  will  receive  will  not  pay  for 
the  extra  time  thus  spent.  The  salesman's 
route  also  may  be  so  large  and  contain  so  many 
towns,  many  of  them  small  ones,  that  he  has 
Hobson's  choice  of  either  spending  a  compar- 
atively small  period  of  time  in  each  one,  or  else 
partly  neglecting  some  of  them,  or  else  not 
"making"  (visiting)  them  at  all.  The  time  at 
the  disposal  of  the  salesman,  the  arrangement 
of  train  schedules  along  his  route,  the  pecul- 
iarities of  his  various  customers,  and  the  nature 
of  the  goods  he  sells,  are  all  factors  in  determin- 
ing this  question  for  him. 

Train  schedules  have  to  be  carefully  studied 
so  that  the  best  advantage  of  them  may  be 
taken  to  save  time.  The  salesman  often  finds 
that  like  the  old  man  cited  in  Ecclesiastes  "he 
rises  at  the  voice  of  the  bird,"  to  catch  the  early 
morning  train,  and  likewise  goes  to  bed  with 
the  owl  on  his  arrivals  at  towns  on  late  night 
trains  in  order  that  he  may  start  work  early  the 
next  morning.  Sometimes  when  train  schedules 


WORK  ON  THE   ROAD  21 

are  not  favorable,  he  can  save  time,  and  really 
save  money,  by  hiring  an  automobile  to  go  from 
one  town  to  another.  This  latter  recourse  is 
the  only  way  he  can  cover  those  "high-grass 
towns  "  off  the  railroad. 

Experience  seems  to  indicate  that  the  most 
successful  plan,  so  far  as  selling  a  large  volume 
of  goods  is  concerned,  is  for  the  salesman  to  have 
a  territory  just  large  enough  for  him  to  cover 
completely  and  to  allow  him  sufficient  time  to 
work  each  town  thoroughly.  This  method,  of 
course,  applies  better  and  more  logically  to 
thickly  settled  states  where  railroad  facilities 
are  good  and  where  carriage  or  automobile  trips 
to  towns  not  on  the  railroad  do  not  have  to  be 
resorted  to  often.  Conversely  in  some  of  the 
sparsely  settled  districts  of  the  West,  where 
railroads  are  few,  it  is  often  found  advantageous 
to  have  railroad  territories  and  automobile 
territories  covered  by  separate  salesmen. 

The  salesman  soon  finds  that  he  needs  all 
his  tact  and  diplomacy  to  have  his  customers 
realize  that  his  time  is  valuable,  and  that  it  can 
be  best  conserved  by  the  customer  talking  busi- 
ness with  him  promptly,  and  either  giving  him 
an  order  or  else  telling  him  that  there  is  "nothing 
doing."  This  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  compass, 
for  it  is  about  as  difficult  and  futile  an  under- 


22        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

taking  to  hurry  the  retail  dealer,  especially  in  a 
small  town,  as  it  is  to  hustle  the  East,  as  Kip- 
ling puts  it.  The  dealer  in  the  small  town  lives 
in  an  atmosphere  of  quiet  and  of  slow-moving 
events,  and  the  nervous  haste  of  the  city-bred 
man  usually  irritates  him  when  it  does  not 
excite  his  somewhat  pitying  though  good-na- 
tured criticism.  The  desire  of  the  traveling 
man  to  get  through  business  quickly,  not  in- 
frequently appears  to  the  customer  as  rather  a 
reflection  upon  the  importance  of  the  business 
the  salesman  is  conducting  with  him.  The 
business  in  question  is  naturally  of  moment  to 
the  dealer  and  should  be  duly  considered  and 
thought  over  as  is  his  wont  in  all  similar  trans- 
actions. The  average  dealer,  however,  has  that 
usual  good  nature,  which  generally  accompanies 
the  man  who  lives  far  from  the  madding  crowd's 
ignoble  strife,  and  it  is  therefore  the  business  of 
the  salesman  to  have  the  dealer  realize  that  the 
salesman's  time  is  really  valuable,  especially 
because  it  is  not  his  own  time,  but  his  firm's. 
Furthermore,  the  dealer  is  aiding  the  sales- 
man in  making  a  success  of  his  business  by 
assisting  him  in  conserving  and  economizing 
his  time.  So  that  the  dealer's  consideration 
is  most  helpful  to  the  salesman,  and  does 
much  to  further  his  success.  Of  course  the 


WORK  ON  THE   ROAD  23 

salesman  must  inevitably  waste  much  time 
waiting  for  the  dealer  when  the  latter  is  serving 
customers.  For  the  customers  are  apt  to  take 
their  time,  since  making  purchases  is  with  them, 
especially  if  they  be  women,  both  an  event  and 
an  adventure,  and  something  not  to  be  lightly 
entered  upon,  nor  hastily  carried  through. 

Under  such  circumstances  there  is  but  one 
thing  for  the  salesman  to  do,  and  that  is  to 
avoid  altogether  the  least  appearance  of  im- 
patience, no  matter  what  are  his  inward  feel- 
ings. For  to  exhibit  such  feeling  would  be 
fatal.  He  can  put  in  the  time,  chatting  with 
any  clerk  who  may  not  be  busy,  and  thus  be 
making  friends  who  may  fulfill  the  second  part 
of  the  little  girl's  definition  of  a  lie,  that  "it  was 
an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  but 
an  ever  present  help  in  time  of  trouble."  For 
in  time  the  getting  of  the  good  will  of  everyone 
in  the  store  adds  much  to  the  chances  of  the 
salesman's  procuring  larger  orders.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  salesman  may  gain  a  knowledge 
of  the  dealer's  stock  and  assortment  by  a  not 
too  obvious  examination  of  the  goods  on  the 
shelves.  Or  he  may  tactfully  assist  the  dealer 
in  making  a  sale  to  the  customer  whom  the 
dealer  is  serving. 

In  all  such  situations  few  things  so  befit  the 


24        TRAVELING   SALESMANSHIP 

salesman  and  so  advance  his  cause  with  the 
customer  as  modesty  and  patience.  Modesty, 
which  prevents  him  from  over  duly  impressing 
his  customer  with  the  importance  of  his  (the 
salesman's)  time,  and  the  patience  which  good- 
naturedly  waits  while  his  customer  is  busy  with 
his  own  affairs. 

When,  however,  that  relation,  which  every 
ambitious  salesman  aspires  to,  is  finally  reached 
in  the  course  of  time,  namely,  when  there  is  com- 
plete understanding  and  mutual  respect  and 
regard  between  the  salesman  and  the  dealer, 
then  it  becomes  much  easier  for  the  salesman 
to  get  the  entire  and  ready  cooperation  of  the 
dealer  in  all  ways  that  tend  to  conserve  the 
salesman's  time. 


CHAPTER  IV 

WORK    ON   THE    ROAD 

Clerical  work — Importance  of  and  best  methods  of 
handling — Selection  of  samples — Their  use  and  ef- 
fectiveness— Familiarity  with  and  demonstration  of 
them — Disposition  of  shop-worn  samples. 

The  salesman  traveling  for  a  large  jobbing 
house,  carrying  an  extensive  line  of  goods  with 
a  complete  assortment,  finds  a  large  proportion 
of  his  time  taken  up  in  what  seems  to  him 
unproductive  clerical  work.  It  appears  unpro- 
ductive, and  often  is,  because  it  does  not  appar- 
ently have  any  direct  relation  to  the  main  busi- 
ness in  hand — that  of  selling  goods.  Many 
firms  make  the  serious  mistake  of  burdening  their 
traveling  men  with  work  which  should  be  han- 
dled in  the  house  by  clerks.  In  order  to  get  the 
best  results  the  salesman  should  be  left  as  free 
as  possible  to  devote  his  time  to  selling.  Yet 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  the 
traveling  salesman  finds  much  clerical  work 
thrust  upon  him  that  cannot  be  neglected  nor 
evaded.  There  are  route  sheets  to  be  written 
up  and  sent  in  to  his  house,  giving  his  addresses 

25 


26        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

and  stopping  places  for  the  next  week  or  two. 
There  are  reports  of  claims  that  he  has  adjusted, 
or  concerning  which  he  reports  progress.  There 
are  expense  accounts  to  be  filled  in.  Always 
there  are  letters  from  his  firm  on  innumerable 
subjects,  and  many  of  these  letters  require 
answering.  There  are  memoranda  of  orders 
taken  during  the  day  to  be  written  up  in  proper 
form  before  being  sent  in.  In  passing,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  salesman  saves  himself 
and  his  firm  much  time  and  trouble  by  sending 
in  his  orders  in  such  shape  that  they  are  en- 
tirely intelligible  to  those  in  the  home  firm  who 
handle  them,  and  can  consequently  get  out  the 
goods  and  ship  them  without  the  necessity  of 
having  to  write  or  wire  the  salesman  for  further 
information  or  exercise  their  ingenuity  in  guess- 
ing what  he  means  and  what  he  wants.  In 
making  out  his  orders  the  salesman  should  leave 
nothing  to  the  imagination  of  those  in  the  firm 
who  handle  them.  The  name  and  address  of 
the  customer  should  be  written  so  plainly  that 
literally  he  who  runs  may  read  and  understand. 
All  terms,  datings,  cash  discounts,  freight  al- 
lowances and  the  like,  which  form  a  part  of  the 
order,  should  be  plainly  stated. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  misunderstandings 
which   arise  between  the  home  firm  and  the 


WORK  ON  THE  ROAD  27 

customers  are  due  to  the  failure  or  oversight  of 
the  salesman  to  state  things  plainly  in  his  orders. 
All  articles  on  his  orders  should  have  proper 
numbers,  and  descriptions  should  be  exactly  the 
same  as  used  in  the  catalogue  from  which  the 
salesman  sells  his  goods.  He  must  not  over- 
look the  fact  that  his  orders  are  often  got  out  by 
stock  clerks  who  have  not  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  goods,  and  are  not  familiar  with 
the  various  local  or  colloquial  names  of  the 
goods,  and  consequently  do  not  recognize  these 
names  when  they  see  them  and  may  errone- 
ously report  the  goods  as  out  or  short. 

All  this  and  much  more  clerical  work  which 
the  salesman  cannot  escape  has  to  be  done  at 
night,  or  on  the  train,  or  during  occasional  spare 
moments  during  the  day.  Usually  it  has  to  be 
written  out  in  long  hand,  since  stenographers 
are  not  always  available,  nor  are  they  always 
time-savers.  The  salesman  usually  finds  that 
it  is  a  mistake  not  to  clean  up  each  day's  work 
as  he  goes  along.  Ragged  ends  postponed  and 
carried  over  until  the  next  day  only  get  more 
frazzled,  and  once  the  salesman  gets  behind  in 
his  work  it  seems  impossible  for  him  to  catch 
up.  It  is  better  to  devote  the  necessary  time 
to  disposing  of  each  day's  work,  even  if  it  trench 
somewhat  upon  the  night  or  be  at  the  sacrifice 


28        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

of  some  pleasure.  Constant,  unceasing  industry 
is  one  of  the  fundamental  factors  in  successful 
salesmanship,  and  the  lack  of  this  essential 
quality  cannot  be  supplied  by  the  possession 
and  practice  of  more  engaging  and  brilliant 
qualities. 

In  all  clerical  work  there  is  much  accom- 
plished by  the  simple  practice  of  doing  one 
thing  at  a  time,  and  completing  it  before  let- 
ting it  go.  It  is  probably  the  most  effective 
method  of  accomplishing  work,  and  the  one 
least  consistently  followed.  There  are  several 
short  cuts  and  direct  routes  of  arriving  at  re- 
sults, such  as  making  answer  on  the  same  letter 
sheet  that  needs  reply,  using  a  pencil  in  place 
of  a  pen  if  more  convenient,  making  letters  as 
brief  as  possible,  and  never  writing  unneces- 
sary letters.  Napoleon  wisely  said  that  most 
letters  answer  themselves  in  three  weeks'  time, 
but  the  firm  usually  expects  discriminating  cor- 
respondence from  the  salesman  and  prompt 
answers  to  inquiries. 

Although  one  of  the  most  important  elements 
of  work  on  the  road  is  carrying  samples,  unless 
proper  use  is  made  of  them,  they  cost  more  than 
they  earn.  Some  salesmen  take  out  a  line  of 
samples,  probably  several  trunks  full  of  them, 
and  leave  them  most  of  the  time  at  their  head- 


WORK  ON  THE  ROAD  29 

quarters,  where  they  repose  peacefully — the 
trunks  unopened  and  samples  unused.  The 
better  plan  for  the  salesman  is  to  make  his 
headquarters  a  depot  for  his  sample  trunks, 
and  take  out  on  his  various  trips  such  of  them 
as  are  needed. 

Carrying  samples  is  a  very  expensive  practice 
when  full  use  is  not  made  of  them  by  showing 
them  and  selling  from  them.  There  are  excess 
baggage  charges,  tips  to  depot  and  hotel  porters 
to  insure  prompt  handling  of  the  trunks,  deteri- 
oration of  the  goods  by  constant  exposure  to 
dust  and  moisture,  and  the  expense  of  sample 
rooms  at  the  hotels.  The  number  and  amount 
of  samples  to  be  carried  depends  upon  many 
things:  the  nature  of  the  business,  and  the  na- 
ture of  the  goods;  the  condition  and  character 
of  the  salesman's  territory;  and  the  general 
business  conditions  of  the  times.  In  lines  of 
goods  which  change  constantly  according  to  the 
dictates  of  fashion  it  is  practically  necessary 
to  carry  samples  of  almost  every  article  to  be 
sold.  In  some  other  lines  where  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  items  have  a  long  and  honorable 
lineage,  only  comparatively  few  samples  need 
to  be  shown.  In  most  branches  of  business 
new  goods  should  be  generally  sampled  by  the 
salesman,  since  very  few  experienced  buyers 


30        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

care  to  purchase  new  items  from  photographs 
or  descriptions,  but  prefer  to  see  the  real  article. 
Buyers  as  a  rule  have  that  Missouri  trend  of 
mind  that  needs  "to  be  shown."  There  are 
innumerable  instances,  also,  where  it  proves 
the  part  of  wisdom  to  carry  samples  of  well- 
known  and  familiar  goods. 

There  is  an  innate  desire  in  the  mind  of  prac- 
tically every  purchaser  to  see  the  article  that 
he  is  buying.  In  some  lines,  dry  goods  and 
shoes  for  instance,  almost  everything  is  sold 
by  samples.  An  attractive  sample  is  practically 
the  best  selling  and  talking  point  that  a  sales- 
man can  use.  The  more  expensive  and  the  more 
stylish  the  goods,  the  wiser  and  more  necessary 
it  is  for  the  salesman  to  carry  samples  of  them. 
This  is  equally  true  of  all  goods  associated  with 
outdoor  sports,  of  all  manner  of  luxuries  and 
things  of  ornamentation,  and  of  every  kind  of 
wearing  apparel. 

One  of  the  difficult  problems  which  the  trav- 
eling salesman  encounters  is  to  persuade  cus- 
tomers to  come  to  the  hotel  and  inspect  the 
samples.  Some  customers  do  not  want  to  take 
the  trouble,  others  dislike  being  away  from 
their  stores  when  it  can  be  avoided,  others  are 
indifferent  and,  like  the  guests  bidden  to  the 
wedding  feast  in  the  New  Testament,  with  one 


WORK  ON  THE  ROAD  31 

accord  begin  to  make  excuses.  There  is  another 
contingent  who  are  loath  to  come  because  of 
well-founded  fear  on  their  part  that,  once  see- 
ing samples,  they  will  buy  more  goods  than  at 
first  they  really  intended  to.  So  when  the  cus- 
tomer will  not  or  cannot  come  to  the  hotel  to 
inspect  the  samples,  it  is  incumbent  upon  the 
salesman  to  take  his  samples  to  the  customer's 
store,  as  far  as  this  is  practicable.  Sometimes 
this  has  to  be  done  by  taking  an  entire  trunk 
or  again  it  may  be  possible  to  get  the  customer 
to  look  over  a  few  items  of  the  more  attractive 
articles  which  can  be  carried  in  a  roll. 

A  very  experienced  salesman  once  said  that 
the  successful  use  of  samples  consisted  in  "know- 
ing them  and  showing  them."  The  salesman's 
talk  to  the  customer  about  samples  should  con- 
tain first  that  elemental  quality  which  news- 
paper men  call  a  story.  There  should  be  inter- 
est to  it  and  a  point,  not  didactic  at  all,  not  too 
technical,  and  yet  sufficiently  so  to  indicate  the 
salesman's  mastery  of  his  subject.  As  in  Ham- 
let's adjuration  to  the  players,  the  salesman 
should  "speak  his  speech  trippingly  on  the 
tongue,"  not  as  though  learned  by  rote  and 
recited,  but  with  all  the  similitude  of  spon- 
taneity and  of  being  purely  extemporaneous. 

The  principal  point  is  a  telling  presentation 


32       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

of  the  merits  of  the  goods.  For  it  is  the  power 
of  conviction,  as  well  as  the  psychology  of  per- 
suasion which  finally  accomplishes  the  sale. 
Most  necessary  of  all  is  it  that  the  salesman 
believe  his  own  story,  else  he  will  never  get 
anywhere.  In  the  long  run  he  will  fail  to  con- 
vince others  unless  he  himself  is  first  convinced. 
It  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  this  world  that  so 
many  "four  flushers"  and  fakirs  make  successes 
and  get  away  with  it.  But  it  is  not  of  record 
that  they  make  successful  salesmen  in  the  same 
line  of  goods  for  any  length  of  time.  This  is 
especially  the  case  where  the  buyer  is  an  ele- 
mental man  in  a  small  town  and  whose  native 
instinct  of  perspicacity  more  than  compensates 
for  his  lack  of  experience.  He  soon  detects  the 
lack  of  sincerity  and  discovers  the  pretense  of 
the  salesman.  With  the  enthusiasm  for  his 
goods  the  salesman  must  mix  such  a  measure 
of  common  sense  and  proportion  as  restrains 
him  from  claiming  for  his  goods  merits  and 
excellencies  which  they  do  not  possess;  other- 
wise he  hurts  his  own  cause  by  exposing  its 
weakness. 

The  salesman  must  also  be  careful  not  to 
fall  into  the  error  of  talking  too  much  and  too 
often  about  the  merits  of  the  goods  he  is  selling. 
This  can  easily  be  done  until  it  becomes  weari- 


WORK  ON  THE  ROAD  33 

some  to  the  customer.  If  constant  repetition 
impresses  us  at  first,  it  finally,  when  carried 
too  far,  becomes  tiresome  and  loses  its  pristine 
effectiveness.  The  judgment  and  perception 
of  the  salesman  must  tell  him  where  to  stop 
and  when  to  refrain. 

It  is  always  a  matter  of  concern  with  the 
salesman  to  dispose  as  economically  as  possible 
of  such  samples  as  he  does  not  return  to  the 
firm  to  be  refinished  and  put  back  into  regular 
stock.  It  is  generally  better  to  sell  such  samples 
as  have  become  shopworn,  instead  of  returning 
them  to  the  firm  and  expecting  it  to  dispose  of 
the  goods.  This  can  usually  be  done  to  some 
customer  at  a  slight  concession  in  price.  The 
salesman  should  be  very  careful  to  keep  his 
sample  account  checked  up  so  that  he  can  at 
any  time  show  the  firm  what  he  has  still  in  use, 
and  what  he  has  disposed  of  and  accounted  for. 


CHAPTER  V 

CONTACT   WITH    CUSTOMERS 

Deference — Respect — Confidence — Fear — Independence — 
Good  feeling — Avoiding  arguments  with  customers 
— Holding  the  customers'  trade. 

The  attitude  of  the  young  salesman  making 
his  first  trip  on  the  road  is  apt  to  be  like  unto 
that  of  Agag,v  King  of  Amalekites,  towards 
Samuel,  the  prophet  of  Israel,  as  related  in  the 
Book  of  Kings.  Agag  was  a  captive  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  was  bidden  to  come  into  the  temple 
of  Jehovah,  where  he  found  Samuel  standing 
before  the  Altar  with  a  drawn  sword.  And  the 
veracious  chronicle  naively  adds:  "And  Agag 
walked  delicately  before  Samuel." 

The  deference  of  the  seller  to  the  buyer  is  a 
business  tradition  and  convention,  though  fad- 
ing somewhat  and  losing  much  of  its  force  in  a 
time  which  more  clearly  recognizes  the  mutual- 
ity of  obligation  between  the  two.  A  deference 
which  descends  to  obsequiousness  and  truck- 
ling is  always  a  serious  mistake,  since  it  appeals 
only  to  that  comparatively  small  class  of  buyers, 
who  like  Bimi  in  Kipling's  story,  have  too  much 

34 


CONTACT  WITH  CUSTOMERS       35 

ego  in  their  cosmos, — or  in  street  parlance, 
suffer  from  an  acute  case  of  swelled  head.  Most 
men  in  their  hearts  despise  a  sycophant,  however 
much  their  vanity  may  be  flattered.  It  is  always 
a  mistake  for  a  salesman  to  be  afraid  of  his 
customer  to  the  extent  of  allowing  the  fear  of 
losing  that  customer's  trade  to  influence  him 
to  the  degree  of  departing  from  the  correct 
principles  and  policies  of  his  business.  Trade 
got  by  such  methods  hangs  by  a  slender  thread, 
is  usually  short  lived,  and  is  always  unsatisfac- 
tory to  the  salesman's  firm  as  well  as  to  the 
salesman  himself.  In  order  to  obtain  the  con- 
fidence of  his  customer  the  salesman  must  first 
command  his  respect,  and  no  buyer  really  re- 
spects a  salesman  who  is  "easy"  and  whom  he 
can  "work"  without  difficulty.  It  is  a  difficult 
matter  for  a  salesman  to  travel  over  the  same 
route  for  a  number  of  years  and  not  make  some 
enemies  and  lose  some  good  customers,  often 
through  no  fault  of  his.  Misunderstandings 
will  arise  between  seller  and  buyer  despite  the 
utmost  care  and  caution  on  the  part  of  the 
salesman.  There  is  always  a  certain  percentage 
of  unreasonable  customers  and  of  cranks  whom 
few  can  please.  Often  the  best  and  most  effect- 
ive way  of  handling  such  customers  is  in  coun- 
try parlance,  to  give  them  as  good  as  they  send, 


36       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

and  to  meet  them  on  their  own  ground  with 
frank,  outspoken  bluntness.  Often  this  method 
gains  and  holds  both  their  respect  and  their 
trade  when  an  effort  to  conciliate  and  please 
them  is  of  no  avail.  For  it  often  happens  that 
such  cranks  are  sound  at  the  core  and  more 
responsive  to  displays  of  courage  and  independ- 
ence than  to  ways  of  conciliation  and  truckling. 
Many  years  of  observation  and  study  make 
evident  that  the  only  salesmen  who  travel  their 
territory  for  a  long  time  and  still  hold  their  trade 
are  those  who  command  the  respect  and  con- 
fidence of  their  customers.  This  is  the  bed-rock 
foundation  principle  of  successful  salesmanship. 
Shrewdness,  knowledge  of  his  business,  keen- 
ness of  intellect,  low  prices,  and  an  attractive 
line  of  goods  are  of  small  avail  in  a  salesman 
without  that  personality  which  inspires  con- 
fidence in  the  man  and  his  motives.  This  is 
especially  the  case  in  the  South  where  goods  are 
still  sold  more  largely  on  personality  than  on 
any  other  factor.  Lacking  this,  the  salesman 
may  as  well  "pack  his  doll  rags  and  go  home," 
so  far  as  any  hope  of  permanent  success  is  con- 
cerned. The  distinguishing  mark  of  merit  in  a 
salesman  in  that  section  is  that  he  "totes  fair" 
with  his  customers.  Doing  this,  he  is  their 
friend,  always  welcome,  and  it  is  apt  to  be  his 


CONTACT  WITH  CUSTOMERS      37 

own  fault  if  he  does  not  sell  them  goods  indefi- 
nitely. As  to  winning  this  confidence,  the  way 
and  means  thereto,  as  expressed  in  the  Prayer 
Book,  is  a  long  and  consistent  story. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  salesman's  career  it 
is  well  to  observe  many  little  things.  Neatness 
and  cleanliness  of  appearance  count  for  much, 
and  can  never  safely  be  neglected,  no  matter 
how  well  the  salesman  may  be  acquainted  with 
his  customer.  No  matter  how  "sloppy"  or 
careless  a  man  may  be  in  his  own  appearance, 
he  does  not  approve  of  it  in  others.  By  the 
same  token,  neat  appearance  in  the  matter  of 
dress  should  never  be  permitted  to  verge  on 
display,  showiness,  or  excess,  for  that  indicates 
a  vanity  that  the  average  customer  dislikes  even 
more  than  untidiness  and  neglect. 

The  salesman  should  always  keep  his  engage- 
ments with  his  customers  to  the  minute,  even 
though  the  customers  be  tardy  or  forgetful. 
If  the  salesman  advises  the  customer  by  mail 
that  he  will  call  on  a  certain  day  he  should  not 
fail  in  this,  or  else  he  should  later,  but  in  advance 
of  the  appointment,  advise  the  customer  of  his 
inability  to  do  so. 

Some  salesmen,  in  their  desire  to  save  time, 
telephone  to  a  customer  from  a  neighboring 
town  to  learn  whether  the  customer  has  any 


38        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

orders  and  inquire  if  they  shall  call.  Nine  times 
out  of  ten  the  customers  answer  "no"  on  gen- 
eral principles,  for  they  feel  the  implied  slight 
that  their  trade  is  not  of  sufficient  value  for  the 
salesman  to  come  after  it.  A  traveler  has  to 
know  his  customer  very  well  and  for  a  long 
time  to  venture  on  anything  of  this  nature. 
Even  then  it  is  not  safe  to  do  it  often. 

It  is  always  well  to  avoid  argument  with  a 
customer,  as  far  as  possible,  particularly  on 
outside  topics  of  the  day,  such  as  religion  and 
politics.  Arguments  of  this  sort  usually  get 
nowhere  and  are  apt  to  lead  to  controversy  and 
to  cause  bad  feeling.  This  does  not  mean  that 
the  salesman  shall  be  a  spineless  creature  with- 
out the  courage  of  his  convictions,  or  that  he 
shall  fail  to  stand  by  his  guns  when  occasion 
demands.  Rather  that  he  use  such  tact  and 
diplomacy  as  make  evident  his  desire  to  avoid 
unprofitable  or  vexatious  discussion,  while  in 
no  way  seeking  to  conceal  his  real  convictions. 
It  often  requires  genuine  tact  to  express  an 
honest  difference  of  opinion  and  still  avoid  a 
wordy  and  futile  discussion.  How  possible  it 
is  to  do  this  under  trying  circumstances  was 
well  illustrated  in  the  Presidential  campaign 
of  1896  in  this  country.  A  salesman  for  a  large 
jobber  in  the  Central  West  was  a  strong  Gold 


CONTACT  WITH  CUSTOMERS       39 

Standard  man,  being  so  by  much  study  and 
reflection.  He  traveled  in  the  Free  Silver  State 
of  Nebraska  at  a  time  when  political  differences 
of  opinion  on  the  financial  question  of  the  day 
aroused  bitter,  personal  animosities.  Yet  he 
went  through  the  entire  campaign  selling  goods 
as  usual,  with  rare  tact  and  discretion  and  never 
lost  a  customer.  He  accomplished  this  very 
delicate  and  difficult  task  by  the  simple  process 
of  never  allowing  himself  to  be  drawn  into  an 
argument  nor  entangled  in  a  controversy  on  the 
subject  which  then  was  largely  absorbing  the 
thought  and  attention  of  the  country.  When 
with  customers  whose  views  differed  from  his, 
he  confined  his  conversation  solely  to  business 
or  to  topics  which  did  not  invite  differences  of 
opinion. 

It  is  invariably  a  blunder  for  a  salesman  to 
abuse  his  competitors  or  to  speak  slightingly 
of  them  and  their  wares.  It  instinctively 
arouses  opposition  in  the  customer,  is  usually 
ascribed  to  envy  and  jealousy  on  the  part  of 
the  salesman  and  generally  results  to  the  benefit 
of  the  competitor.  Such  abuse  invariably  ex- 
cites the  suspicion,  whether  in  selling  goods  or 
any  other  phase  of  life,  that  the  one  doing  the 
attacking,  as  Shakespeare  says,  "like  a  drab, 
unpacks  his  heart  with  words,"  because  of 


40        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

sheer  spite  and  rancor.  More  than  one  can- 
didate for  President  of  the  United  States  has 
spoiled  his  chance  by  violating  the  elemental 
rule  of  salesmanship  which  requires  that  you 
speak  well  and  courteously  of  your  competitor 
as  far  as  a  conformity  with  the  truth  permits. 
It  is  both  wise  and  politic  to  avoid  the  sub- 
ject of  competitors  and  their  goods  as  far  as 
possible. 

Entertaining  customers  is  like  unto  self- 
decapitation  described  by  Koko  in  the  "The 
Mikado,"  as  a  delicate  and  difficult  operation. 
It  is  perfectly  true  that  most  men  like  being 
entertained,  and  often  expect  it.  Yet  there  are 
those  who  resent  it,  especially  from  a  new  and 
unknown  salesman,  as  being  a  reflection  on 
their  independence  of  action,  and  a  covert  and 
insidious  method  of  winning  their  favor  and 
attempting  to  influence  their  judgment  in  buy- 
ing. It  is  seldom  wise  to  attempt  anything  of 
this  nature  until  after  a  long  acquaintance  and 
friendship  and  at  times  when  it  can  be  tendered 
merely  as  a  natural  courtesy  without  any  further 
thought  than  that  of  cementing  friendship. 
Everything  depends  upon  the  manner  in  which 
the  entertainment  is  offered.  It  should  be  done 
simply  as  a  natural  expression  of  good  will  and 
a  desire  for  a  chat  and  intercourse.  It  is  always 


CONTACT  WITH  CUSTOMERS       41 

an  advantage  to  get  a  customer  away  from  his 
business  surroundings  when  he  has  on  the  ar- 
mor of  professional  conventions  and  is  con- 
stantly disturbed  and  harried.  Thus  in  quiet 
and  sociability  the  real  man  may  be  got  at, 
and  some  common  ground  of  sympathy  and 
understanding  be  reached. 

As  salesmanship  is  largely  a  study  of  applied 
psychology,  it  is  essential  that  the  salesman 
get  an  intelligent  idea  of  the  buyer's  point  of 
view,  and  find  some  congenial  trait  or  interest. 
Often  the  apparently  most  ordinary  and  com- 
monplace man  has  some  subject  which  excites 
his  serious  interest,  and  of  which  he  has  much 
first-hand  knowledge.  This  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  example  of  a  retail  hardware  dealer  in  a 
small  town  in  Mississippi,  who  through  sheer 
force  of  much  deep  reflection  obtained  not  only 
a  clear  comprehension  of  the  many  economic 
and  social  problems  forced  upon  the  South  by 
the  invasion  of  the  cotton  boll  weevil,  the  drain- 
ing of  swamp  lands,  and  the  consequent  destruc- 
tion of  the  malaria-bearing  mosquito,  and  the 
freeing  of  the  South  from  the  Texas  cattle  tick, 
but  likewise  an  equally  intelligent  understand- 
ing of  the  results  which  were  likely  to  arise  in 
the  future  out  of  these  causes.  The  salesmen 
who  appreciated  the  quality  and  trend  of  thought 


42       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

of  this  dealer  were  likely  to  get  nearer  to  him 
in  all  business  ways  than  the  superficial  trav- 
eler to  whom  such  matters  were  of  no  concern. 

There  can  be  no  formula  or  rule  in  dealing 
with  customers.  Human  nature  is  too  diverse 
for  that,  and  each  customer  possesses  a  personal 
uniqueness  and  is  a  study  by  himself.  Among 
buyers,  as  among  men  in  all  callings,  there  are 
perverse  and  contrary  specimens  of  humanity. 
Some  few  delight  in  misusing  the  advantage 
which  the  buyer  naturally  possesses,  and  many 
use  it  for  devious  purposes  and  sharp  practices. 
Others  are  prone  to  exercise  the  little  brief 
power  which  their  position  gives  them  in  ways 
which  make  the  salesman  uncomfortable.  These 
men  have  to  be  treated  according  to  their  mer- 
its or  demerits  as  the  case  may  be.  Sometimes 
patience  and  good  nature  win  their  trade  if  not 
their  good  will.  Sometimes  a  firm,  decided 
stand,  accompanied  by  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence is  necessary. 

It  is  usually  a  fatal  mistake  for  the  salesman 
to  borrow  money  of  his  customers,  save  in  an 
emergency.  It  generally  makes  an  unfavorable 
impression,  and  is  a  bad  habit  easily  acquired 
and  not  so  easily  broken.  It  gives  the  customers 
a  low  estimate  not  only  of  the  salesman,  but 
also  of  the  firm  he  represents.  For  the  salesman 


CONTACT  WITH  CUSTOMERS       43 

should  never  forget  that  the  customer  measures 
the  firm  by  its  representatives. 

The  customer  assumes  that  the  firm  does  not 
knowingly  and  consciously  engage  a  man  to 
represent  them  on  the  road  in  whom  they  do 
not  have  confidence  and  whom  they  do  not 
indorse.  Consequently  many  dealers,  if  they 
do  not  like  a  salesman,  refuse  to  trade  with 
the  house.  The  author  knows  of  a  retail  dealer 
who  ceased  dealing  for  several  years  with  a 
firm  because  its  salesman  spit  tobacco  juice 
on  his  new  maplewood  floor.  This  was  an  ex- 
treme instance,  but  well  illustrates  an  elemental 
truth.  This  instinctive  feeling  of  the  dealer 
finds  expression  in  another  marked  manner. 
One  of  the  most  unfortunate  things  that  a  busi- 
ness house  can  do  is  constantly  to  keep  chang- 
ing salesmen  on  a  route.  Inevitably  the  dealers 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  must  be  some- 
thing wrong  with  a  firm  which  cannot  hold  its 
employees.  Evidently  it  either  does  not  know 
how  to  treat  them  or  else  is  a  poor  judge  of  men 
and  chooses  only  inefficient  representatives. 

It  is  true  that  salesmen  often  delude  them- 
selves as  to  the  amount  of  business  which  they 
"own,"  as  is  the  phrase,  and  which  they  believe 
they  take  with  them  to  any  house  which  em- 
ploys them.  They  soon  discover  that  one  of 


44       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

the  strong  elements  in  every  successful  organ- 
ization is  its  standing  with  its  customers,  and 
this  good  will  of  the  customers  towards  the 
house  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons  why  the  sales- 
men sell  goods  so  easily  and  so  readily.  Yet 
it  is  equally  true  in  the  last  analysis,  no  matter 
how  strong  a  firm  is  and  how  well  equipped, 
that  it  cannot  sell  goods  to  its  full  advantage 
and  capacity  unless  it  be  represented  on  the 
road  by  capable  salesmen.  One  modern  in- 
stance will  illustrate  this.  In  a  large  city  on 
the  Missouri  River  there  were  two  jobbing 
houses  very  dissimilar  in  their  character.  One 
was  progressive,  with  a  large  line  of  goods  and 
a  complete  assortment.  The  smaller  house  was 
rather  staid  and  slow,  with  a  smaller  line  and 
much  inferior  assortment.  Yet  in  a  territory 
immediately  adjoining  the  city  the  smaller  house 
sold  twice  as  many  goods  on  a  certain  route 
because  their  salesman  was  far  more  competent 
than  the  representative  of  the  larger  house. 
As  has  been  well  expressed  by  one  of  the  most 
successful  business  men  of  the  day,  as  well  as 
one  of  the  best  judges  of  salesmen,  "It's  all  in 
the  man." 


CHAPTER  VI 

COMPETITION   AND    PRICES 

Friendly  relations  with  competitors — Studying  their 
methods — Personality  as  a  selling  asset — Advantage 
of  being  connected  with  a  good  house — Methods  of 
meeting  competition. 

The  hardest  problem  a  salesman  has  to  solve 
is  how  to  meet  the  endless  and  sleepless  com- 
petition which  confronts  him  at  every  turn. 
It  is  a  continuous  performance,  with  compet- 
itors who  seek  to  get  the  trade  which  he  has, 
to  outwit  him  in  every  way,  and  to  make  lower 
prices  than  he  makes. 

There  is  a  true  saying  among  traveling  men 
that  it  is  easier  to  get  trade  than  it  is  to  hold  it, 
and  that  the  most  difficult  task  of  all  is  to  get 
back  trade  that  you  have  lost. 

Nowadays,  competition  is  usually  open  and 
above  board,  and  the  rules  and  ethics  of  the 
game  are  generally  well  observed.  Also,  as  in 
football,  you  are  apt  to  be  on  good  terms  with 
your  opponents  and  competitors,  but  none  the 
less  you  are  engaged  in  a  contest,  and  rejoice 

45 


46       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

when  you  win,  even  though  the  element  of 
personal  feeling  be  largely  absent. 

The  best  modern  practice  is  to  be  friendly 
with  the  traveling  salesmen  of  competing  houses, 
though  not  to  the  extent  of  injudiciously  be- 
traying business  secrets  or  telling  too  much 
about  your  own  affairs  or  those  of  your  concern. 
The  annals  of  traveling  salesmen  are  full  of 
good  turns  and  kindnesses  done  by  one  com- 
petitor to  another,  especially  in  the  way  of  one 
salesman  getting  a  good  position  for  a  compet- 
ing salesman  whose  ability  and  character  he 
has  learned  to  respect. 

One  of  the  necessary  adjuncts  of  salesman- 
ship is  observing  closely  the  work  of  compet- 
itors. First,  there  is  the  study  of  the  ways  of 
an  opponent,  as  in  the  game  of  chess,  that  you 
may  know  the  answering  move,  and  may  learn 
both  the  skill  and  the  weakness  he  displays. 

A  very  observing  salesman  traveling  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  had  a  competitor  who  gave  him 
a  hard  time.  This  competitor  had  every  qual- 
ity of  a  good  salesman  except  industry.  Like 
the  sloth,  he  turned  to  slumber  in  the  morning 
and  broke  engagements  for  early  hours.  Now 
hard  work  was  the  "long  suit"  of  the  first  sales- 
man. With  quick  perception  he  at  once  saw 
his  opportunity.  If  the  first  salesman  failed 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         47 

to  show  up  early,  the  industrious  traveler  was 
on  hajid  ready  to  take  orders.  He  was  tactful 
enough  never  to  refer  to  his  competitor  save  in 
complimentary  terms  regarding  those  fine  and 
salesmanlike  qualities  which  the  other  man 
undeniably  possessed.  Often  the  provoked 
and  irritated  dealer  gave  the  order  intended  for 
the  absent  salesman  to  the  man  who  showed 
enough  appreciation  of  the  dealer's  business  to 
be  on  hand  working  for  it.  Thus,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  his  career,  the  industrious  traveler 
learned  the  invaluable  lesson  that  day  and 
night  must  be  alike  to  the  salesman  who  would 
succeed,  and  that  quiet  persistence  and  cease- 
less industry  win  most  desirable  things  in  this 
world, — all  the  way  from  orders  for  goods  up 
to  wives.  On  the  other  hand,  the  story  of  the 
lazy  though  brilliant  salesman  was  that  of  a 
gradual  loss  of  business  and  a  steady  slipping 
in  his  hold  upon  the  trade. 

Then  again,  the  salesman  should  have  his 
competitor  "sized  up"  because  often  his  firm 
needs  a  new  salesman,  and  he  can  recommend 
some  one  from  his  competitors  who  is  ambitious 
for  a  better  route  or  a  better  salary  and  this 
may  be  a  benefit  to  his  firm  as  well  as  to  the 
other  man.  These  opportunities  occur  con- 
stantly, for  many  traveling  salesmen  are  a  peri- 


48        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

patetic  lot,  and  change  frequently.  One  potent 
reason  for  this  is  that  the  results  of  the  travel- 
ing salesman's  work  are  always  in  evidence, 
more  so  in  fact  than  in  any  other  positions  in 
commercial  life.  His  sales,  expenses,  and  prof- 
its are  matters  of  record  that  cannot  be  con- 
cealed, nor  can  they  well  be  explained  away, 
when  the  net  results  are  unsatisfactory. 

Stated  baldly,  the  salesman  must  either  "de- 
liver the  goods"  or  seek  a  new  job,  though  often 
enough  he  may  be  the  victim  of  misfortune  or 
represent  a  house  which  fails  to  back  him  up.  So 
among  traveling  salesmen,  there  is  a  certain 
proportion  who  in  their  time  travel  for  many 
houses,  either  because  they  are  ambitious  and 
seek  to  make  better  connections,  or  because 
they  do  not  like  their  jobs  and  consequently 
do  not  understand  them,  or  because  they  fail 
to  get  with  the  right  and  congenial  house,  or 
else  they  lack  industry,  or  tact,  or  knowledge 
of  human  nature  or  some  other  indispensable 
element  of  salesmanship,  or  because  of  some 
incurable  habit  or  fault  which  entirely  mars 
their  business  career. 

Then  there  is  the  competition  of  the  traveler 
representing  a  better  house  than  the  one  you 
are  with.  The  other  man's  house  may  have  a 
superior  line  of  goods  and  more  complete  assort- 


COMPETITION  AND   PRICES        49 

ment.  It  fills  its  orders  more  completely  and 
makes  prompter  shipments.  It  treats  its  cus- 
tomers liberally.  Its  prices  average  lower  than 
yours,  so  you  are  put  to  your  "stumps"  to  offer 
reasons  why  dealers  should  buy  goods  of  you. 
This  is  the  problem  that  confronts  many  sales- 
men and  it  is  not  easy  of  solution.  The  only 
answer  that  avails  is  the  personality  of  the 
salesman,  and  the  efficient  manner  in  which  he 
prosecutes  his  business,  in  spite  of  undeniable 
handicaps.  The  very  existence  of  these  handi- 
caps, however,  only  emphasizes  the  advantages 
which  a  salesman  possesses  who  travels  for  a 
house  who  makes  it  easier  for  him  by  the  serv- 
ice it  gives  its  customers  and  by  backing  him 
up  in  all  his  efforts.  Likewise  it  renders  it 
easier  for  him  to  meet  competition  from  other 
quarters. 

One  salesman  traveling  for  a  good  house  on 
his  initial  trip  in  the  Far  West,  conscious  of 
his  own  inexperience  and  his  own  lack  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  business,  in  a  most  frank  and  alto- 
gether manly  way  told  the  dealers  that  this 
was  his  chance  to  make  good,  that  his  only  art 
in  the  severe  competition  he  encountered  was 
to  ask  them  to  encourage  him  by  an  order. 
That  if  he  got  through  his  first  trip  success- 
fully he  would  have  no  trouble  hereafter  and 


So       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

those  who  befriended  him  by  giving  him  busi- 
ness would  never  have  occasion  to  regret  it. 
His  appeal  "went,"  and  to-day  after  many 
years,  he  is  still  traveling  in  that  same  terri- 
tory. 

One  of  the  severest  forms  of  competition  the 
regular  salesman  encounters  is  from  the  "  spe- 
cial" salesman  selling  a  limited  line  of  goods, 
and  who  has  an  undeniable  prestige  because 
of  the  superior  and  intensive  knowledge  of  his 
goods  which  he  is  supposed  to  possess,  since 
his  efforts  and  study  are  centered  on  a  com- 
paratively few  articles,  whereas  the  regular 
salesman  has  to  spread  knowledge  over  a  vast 
line. 

The  only  reply,  of  course,  is  for  the  regular 
salesman  to  become  thoroughly  saturated  and 
familiar  with  the  part  of  his  own  line  similar 
to  that  handled  by  the  special  man.  As  Pooh 
Bah  says  in  the  Mikado,  "I  have  known  it 
done,"  and  done  very  successfully.  In  such 
cases  the  regular  salesman  has  the  great  advan- 
tage of  special  inducements  in  other  parts  of 
his  line  as  reasons  for  the  purchase  of  the  com- 
petitive goods  and  thus  combats  the  limited 
repertoire  of  the  special  man.  Yet  it  must  be 
confessed  that  the  natural  tendency  of  the  aver- 
age traveling  man  is  to  follow  the  line  of  least 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES        51 

resistance  and  leave  the  field  largely  to  the 
special  man.  Sometimes  the  special  man  has  a 
better  and  more  complete  line  and  lower  prices. 
But  often  the  inability  of  the  regular  man  is 
due  not  to  the  weakness  of  his  line,  but  to  his 
lack  of  industry  and  application  in  attaining 
familiarity  with  his  own  goods  that  he  may 
present  them  with  the  same  confidence  and 
the  assurance  that  distinguishes  the  special 
salesman. 

Every  line  of  business  has  certain  goods, 
such,  for  instance,  as  fine  dress  goods  in  the  dry 
goods  trade,  whose  apparent  complexity  deter 
the  average  salesman  from  mastering  their 
seeming  intricacies  and  thus  making  him  a  foe- 
man  worthy  of  the  well-posted  special  man. 
What  the  regular  salesman  thus  loses  is  not  only 
much  business  that  he  would  otherwise  get, 
but  likewise  the  profound  gratification  and 
education  which  come  from  the  mastery  of  a 
knotty  subject,  whose  difficulties  are  conquered 
by  earnest  and  persistent  study.  The  average 
salesman  is  apt  to  underrate  the  nature  and 
strength  of  his  competition.  It  is  a  fatal  de- 
lusion. For  it  breeds  that  over-confidence  which 
causes  one  to  go  "to  sleep  at  the  switch." 

Not  long  ago  there  traveled  in  the  South- 
west a  salesman  for  a  small  manufacturer  in 


52       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

the  Central  West,  and  whose  annual  sales  were 
out  of  all  proportion  to  the  size  of  his  concern. 
He  was  an  adept  at  keeping  his  own  counsel, 
and  never  made  the  fatal  mistake  of  boasting 
of  the  amount  of  his  sales.  Like  most  travel- 
ing salesmen  he  talked  the  usual  patter  about 
business  being  good,  but  it  was  always  in  glit- 
tering generalities  and  never  any  reference  to 
his  own  achievements.  His  competition  largely 
went  unnoticed  by  the  salesmen  of  the  larger 
manufacturers  in  his  line,  which  was  just  what 
he  planned,  for  he  was  left  alone  as  being  merely 
small  game,  and  entitled  to  such  pickings  as  he 
might  secure. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  forms  of  competition 
is  from  a  salesman  whose  firm  gives  good  service 
in  the  way  of  prompt  shipments,  orders  filled 
complete,  and  quick  deliveries.  It  is  the  hardest 
of  all  competition,  requiring  the  utmost  in- 
genuity and  skill  to  overcome.  It  is  a  com- 
petition often  characteristic  of  a  well-organized 
and  well-managed  concern. 

There  was  a  salesman  traveling  in  the  Far 
Northwest  for  a  firm,  such  as  that  spoken  of, 
over  2,500  miles  east  of  his  territory.  It  took 
from  three  to  four  weeks  for  goods  shipped 
from  his  house  to  reach  his  customers.  Mean- 
while, he  was  hemmed  in  by  local  competitors 


COMPETITION  AND   PRICES         53 

who  made  deliveries  in  from  three  to  four  days. 
Yet,  he  had  a  large  and  growing  business.  He 
was  eminently  resourceful  and  presented  the 
arguments  of  an  unequaled  line  both  in  scope 
and  variety  of  everything  that  any  dealer  could 
want  or  need,  of  broad  and  liberal  treatment  of 
his  customers  by  his  firm  who  backed  him  up 
in  all  his  statements  and  all  his  agreements,  of 
the  very  best  goods  and  the  best  assortment 
in  his  branch  of  business.  He  had  his  customers 
realize  that  by  his  competition  he  was  a  stabil- 
izing force  in  prices,  and  prevented  local  com- 
petitors from  taking  advantage  of  any  emer- 
gency to  exact  unduly  high  prices,  also  he  had  an 
unlimited  supply  of  goods  in  times  of  local  scar- 
city. He  persuaded  his  customers  that  it  was  to 
their  mutual  advantage  to  combine  their  pur- 
chases from  him  and  enable  him  to  ship  "col- 
lective cars,"  thus  securing  lower  freight  rates 
and  less  time  in  transit  than  if  shipped  in  less 
than  car  loads,  and  he  used  the  collective  car 
method  to  bill  to  his  customers  the  goods  of 
luxury  and  high  quality  at  reasonable  prices. 
He  made  the  argument  that  thus  every  dealer 
on  his  territory  had  access  to  a  great  market 
for  all  the  goods  in  his  line,  and  thus  avoided  the 
fate  of  some  sections  away  from  great  central 
markets  that  though  buying  staple  goods  cheap, 


54       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

yet  they  had  to  pay  unduly  high  prices  for  less 
staple  and  less  well-known  articles. 

The  very  necessities  of  the  situation  brought 
out  all  the  ingenuity  and  resourcefulness  of  the 
salesmanship  in  him  and  from  the  Nettle  Neces- 
sity he  plucked  the  Flower — Success. 


CHAPTER  VII 

COMPETITION   AND    PRICES 

Competition  and  prices — Price  only  one  of  the  factors  in 
selling — Service  and  the  human  equation — Quality 
a  more  enduring  element  than  price — Differing 
methods  of  selling — Need  of  traveling  salesmen — 
"Baits"  and  their  purpose — Declining  prices  and 
their  effect  upon  buying. 

The  problem  of  prices  is  that  of  a  troubled  sea, 
ever  moving,  ever  changing,  with  eddies,  and 
cross  currents,  so  that  any  scientific  and  certain 
diagnosis  of  the  situation  is,  from  the  very  nature 
of  the  case,  quite  impossible.  There  are  many 
factors  which  enter  into  sales;  ease,  propin- 
quity, price,  service,  and  the  human  equation. 
And  the  greatest  of  these  are  service  and  the  hu- 
man equation.  It  is  an  economic  dictum  that  the 
natural  instinct  of  the  average  person  is  to  buy 
in  the  cheapest  and  to  sell  in  the  dearest  market. 
Whatever  may  be  the  abstract  truth  of  this 
statement,  it  is  very  certain  as  a  matter  of  ex- 
perience, that  in  daily  life  its  effect  is  so  pro- 
foundly modified  by  those  other  factors  of  which 
I  speak,  that  price  is  not  the  principal  factor 

55 


56       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

in  making  sales,  and  frequently  is  entirely  over- 
borne by  other  influences.  One  has  only  to  use 
common  sense  and  observation  to  establish  the 
truth  of  this  statement.  In  our  own  individual 
experience  we  purchase  constantly  from  those 
dealers  who  are  conveniently  located  near  us, 
or  whom  we  like,  or  from  whom  we  receive 
satisfactory  service.  Even  in  the  case  of  the 
woman  shopper,  who  is  keen  for  bargains,  the 
personal  element  and  the  quality  of  service  are 
apt  to  be  determining  factors  in  her  choice  of 
purchases.  A  most  striking  instance  is  afforded 
by  the  great  cities  where  large  department  stores 
are  enabled  by  good  management  and  great 
buying  power,  because  of  the  large  volume  of 
their  purchases,  to  offer  low  figures  to  the  gen- 
eral public.  Yet,  in  such  great  cities,  often  in 
the  shadow  of  these  great  department  stores, 
there  are  hundreds  and  thousands  of  small 
shops  which  make  money  or  a  living  and  rarely, 
if  ever,  on  the  basis  of  low  prices. 

Quite  a  proportion  of  buying  is  merely  for- 
tuitous. Purchasers  drop  in  at  certain  shops 
because  it  is  convenient  to  do  so,  or  because 
they  are  passing  by.  Other  buying  is  a  matter 
of  habit,  especially  if  the  human  equation  of 
the  shopkeeper  or  his  clerks  enters  into  the 
transaction  after  a  pleasant  fashion. 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         57 

Even  more  compelling  are  the  questions  of 
service  and  quality  which  are  coming  more  and 
more  to  be  recognized  as  the  determining  factors 
both  in  obtaining  and  holding  trade.  There 
is  a  homely  saying  that  "the  proof  of  the  pud- 
ding is  in  the  eating."  So  in  every  phase  of 
commercial  life  the  story  of  experience  is  that 
the  permanently  successful  organizations  are 
those  which  combine  quality  of  product  with 
good  service  in  distribution  and  in  the  general 
treatment  of  their  customers.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing fact  that  neither  in  manufacturing  nor  dis- 
tribution has  there  ever  been  more  than  an 
occasional  instance  of  other  than  a  temporary 
success  of  the  organization  whose  principal  bid 
for  trade  was  that  of  low  prices.  The  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  prices  lies  in  that  instinct 
of  human  nature  which  desires  always  to  get 
its  money's  worth,  which  realizes  that  those  who 
habitually  sell  goods  cheap  are  apt  to  sell  cheap 
goods.  No  goods  habitually  sold  cheap  give 
satisfaction  on  the  whole.  And  the  summing  up 
of  the  situation  is  found  in  the  saying  of  a  very 
wise  business  man  of  much  experience,  that 
"the  recollection  of  quality  remains  long  after 
the  price  is  forgotten." 

The  business  of  the  concern  that  rests  upon 
low  prices  is  built  upon  the  sand,  while  that  of 


58       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

the  house  which  relies  upon  quality  and  serv- 
ice has  its  foundations  on  a  rock,  and  it  alone 
can  endure  the  stress  and  trials  of  changing 
time  and  fortunes.  If  goods  could  be  sold  prin- 
cipally on  price,  it  is  obvious  that  there  would 
be  no  need  for  the  salesman  and  that  all  that 
would  be  necessary  would  be  quotations  through 
the  mail  with  tempting  low  prices.  This  method 
of  selling  is  much  in  vogue  in  some  sections  and 
apparently  is  growing.  Yet  it  is  equally  of 
note  that  the  traveling  salesmen  are  still  the 
chief  means  of  selling  in  by  far  the  greater  part 
of  the  manufacturing  and  distributing  world  of 
commerce.  The  former  method,  that  of  selling 
largely  by  price,  sets  forth  the  importance  of  price 
as  a  factor;  while  the  latter  method,  that  of  the 
traveling  salesman,  emphasizes  the  inherent  and 
inalienable  value  of  the  human  equation  and  the 
call  that  merit  and  quality  must  always  make 
upon  the  buyer.  Moreover,  there  are  long  lines 
of  goods,  which  can  be  sold  adequately  and  ef- 
fectively only  through  the  medium  of  the  travel- 
ing salesman.  Such  goods  are  largely  those  of 
quality  and  merit  which  depend  upon  the  per- 
sonal exposition  of  their  attractiveness  or  their 
merit  where  it  is  such  that  it  cannot  be  con- 
veyed by  the  printed  page,  nor  by  photographs 
nor  by  any  graphic  representation  of  the  article. 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         59 

Moreover,  in  every  phase  of  human  life  there 
are  certain  results  which  can  be  attained  in 
their  perfection  and  completeness  only  by  the 
human  equation,  while  on  the  other  hand,  sys- 
tem, method,  and  every  form  of  machinery 
fail  of  the  ultimate  purpose  sought  to  be  at- 
tained. It  is  upon  this  eternal  and  inherent 
fact  of  every  phase  of  human  life  that  the  sales- 
man must  rest  his  cause  and  give  reason  for  the 
faith  that  is  in  him.  There  are  many  things 
in  life  that  seem  logical  but  are  not  so.  Hence, 
it  is  that  commercial  history  contradicts  the 
alleged  super-importance  of  price  as  the  prime 
factor  in  making  sales. 

The  matter  of  bargain  prices,  as  often  exem- 
plified in  the  history  of  the  department  stores 
in  large  cities,  has  some  analogy  to  the  same 
methods  sometimes  used  by  traveling  salesmen, 
as  incidental  divertisements  rather  than  the 
main  theme.  They  are  familiarly  known  to  the 
trade  as  "baits,"  and  are  estimated  and  ranked 
accordingly;  so  much  so  that  they  are  not  the 
sign  manual  nor  the  custom  of  the  experienced 
salesman,  who  knows  that  the  road  to  success 
does  not  lie  that  way.  Moreover,  the  shrewd 
buyer  purchases  only  the  low-priced  bargains 
and  does  not  allow  the  salesman  to  recoup 
himself  by  selling  the  buyer  more  expensive 


60       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

and  more  profitable  goods  at  regular  market 
figures. 

One  of  the  sidelights  on  prices  and  one  of  the 
paradoxical  happenings  in  commercial  history 
is  that  declining  prices  almost  invariably  exer- 
cise a  strong  deterrent  effect  upon  buying,  and 
the  lower  prices  go,  the  more  purchases  are  cur- 
tailed, until  at  the  bottom  buying  is  strictly 
from  hand  to  mouth,  and  is  confined  almost 
entirely  to  absolute  necessities.  This  was  strik- 
ingly and  succinctly  shown  in  the  long  commer- 
cial depression  from  1893  to  1896  when  prices 
of  commodities  were  the  lowest  recorded  in  the 
history  of  the  country  and  the  business  of  buy- 
ing and  selling  was  almost  at  a  standstill. 

The  explanation  and  the  psychology  are 
simple  enough.  The  buyer  fears  that  prices 
once  started  downward  will  continually  decline, 
and  believes  that  by  waiting  he  will  secure  lower 
figures.  But  in  the  mass  he  never  realizes  when 
the  bottom  has  been  reached  but  anticipates 
still  lower  figures.  Contrariwise,  in  a  rising 
market,  the  natural  instinct  of  the  buyer  is  to 
purchase  eagerly  and  liberally  lest  the  oppor- 
tunity pass  quickly  away,  and  he  perforce  be 
compelled  to  pay  higher  prices.  So  by  the  same 
token  he  never  realizes  when  the  top  has  been 
reached,  and  goes  on  buying  without  rhyme  or 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         61 

reason.  Much  truer  than  the  economic  dictum 
as  to  the  tendency  of  the  individual  to  buy  in  the 
cheapest  and  sell  in  the  dearest  market  is  the 
Wall  Street  jibe  that  the  shorn  lamb,  who  wan- 
ders into  the  Street,  and  finds  no  tempering 
wind,  always  buys  at  the  top  of  the  stock  mar- 
ket, and  sells  at  the  bottom. 

There  is  one  phase  of  prices  concerning  which 
there  is  much  general  misconception  and  mis- 
understanding, and  both  are  largely  reflected  in 
books  on  economics.  It  is  the  statement,  appar- 
ently logical,  that  there  is  much  wasteful  and 
expensive  effort  because  of  many  and  diffused 
methods  of  production — especially  manufactur- 
ing— and  distribution,  when  the  same  effort  in 
concentrated  form  would  result  in  great  econ- 
omies, both  in  production  and  distribution, 
with  consequent  lowering  of  prices  to  the  general 
consuming  public  on  the  articles  thus  affected. 
This  is  one  of  those  many  instances  of  appar- 
ently logical  and  unanswerable  reasoning — on 
paper — which  proves  entirely  fallacious  in  actual 
experience.  This  was  very  definitely  illustrated 
in  the  early  years  of  the  present  century  when 
the  great  consolidations  in  some  large  and  im- 
portant manufacturing  lines  took  place  as  one 
of  the  indirect  results  of  the  Spanish-American 
war.  It  was  conclusively  shown  at  that  time — 


62       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

on  paper — that  such  consolidation  would  re- 
sult in  many  economies  because  of  the  elimina- 
tion of  much  useless  and  expensive  duplication 
of  work,  and  the  concentration  of  all  major 
activities  under  one  central  control.  It  was 
argued,  for  instance,  that  the  number  of  offices 
would  be  reduced,  there  would  be  fewer  travel- 
ing men,  fewer  employees,  and  there  would  be 
in  practice  all  those  economies  which  go  with 
unified  control. 

It  was  held  out  as  one  of  the  prime  reasons 
for  these  consolidations  that  the  general  pur- 
chasing and  consuming  public  would  receive  the 
benefit  of  these  economies  in  lower  prices  of  the 
manufactured  articles  so  affected  and  in  con- 
sequently lower  costs  of  living.  What  actually 
happened  was  in  direct  contradiction  to  all 
these  promises  and  prophecies.  Expenses  in- 
creased, because  of  the  very  size  of  the  con- 
solidations and  the  impossibility  of  successfully 
controlling  all  the  avenues  of  expenditures. 
Besides,  additional  expenses,  foreign  to  the  small 
manufacturing  concerns,  became  a  natural  and 
apparently  inescapable  part  of  the  consolida- 
tions. They  essayed  and  undertook  many  new 
functions  which  had  no  direct  connection  with 
their  original  purpose  of  manufacturing,  and 
all  of  them  cost  much  money.  The  net  result 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         63 

was  an  increase  in  the  cost  of  the  manufactured 
articles  to  the  general  public,  and  the  very  com- 
plete demonstration  that  free  and  unrestricted 
competition  with  the  opportunity  for  that  in- 
dividual initiative,  which  is  so  distinctly  a  part 
of  our  nation,  is  the  surest  factor  in  insuring 
reasonable  prices  and  good  service  to  the  gen- 
eral public. 

After  all,  Wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children, 
and  Experience  has  demonstrated  that  the  con- 
trol and  monopoly  of  any  article  invariably 
results  in  higher  prices  and  poorer  service  to 
the  consumer. 

The  traveling  salesmen  are  the  best  proof 
to  dealers  that  competition  is  in  reality  the  life 
of  trade  in  not  only  keeping  down  excessive 
prices,  but  most  of  all  in  insuring  good  service. 
The  very  business  existence  of  the  salesman 
depends  upon  the  service  he  renders  his  custom- 
ers. For  at  every  town  he  encounters  the  keen- 
est competition  from  others  of  his  tribe,  so  that 
the  spur  of  necessity,  the  greatest  of  all  incen- 
tives to  action,  is  ever  with  him  as  a  cause  for 
constant  and  unremitting  effort.  Much  of  the 
apparent  duplification  of  effort,  such  as  the 
calling  of  a  dozen  salesmen  in  one  line  of  busi- 
ness upon  the  dealer,  is  offset  by  the  benefit  to 
the  dealers  in  reasonable  prices,  but  more  es- 


64        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

pecially  in  good  service,  both  of  which  factors 
would  be  largely  modified  were  much  of  this 
keen  and  ceaseless  competition  eliminated. 

STABILIZING  PRICES 

There  is  always  a  great  deal  of  current  and 
absolutely  theoretic  discussion  in  the  daily 
papers  and  in  the  magazines  as  to  the  wisdom 
and  the  necessity  of  stabilizing  prices.  By 
which  seems  to  be  meant  there  should  be  some 
kind  of  stability  free  from  fluctuations  in  the 
prices  of  a  great  many  staple  articles,  notably 
those  of  food  products.  It  is  a  vain  delusion. 
We  might  as  well  talk  of  stabilizing  the  tides. 
What  is  really  needed  is  that  there  be  free  and 
unrestricted  play  of  the  natural  laws  of  supply 
and  demand  that  prices  may  fluctuate  accord- 
ingly. Evils  that  arise  in  the  changes  of  prices 
are  largely  brought  about  by  arbitrary  regu- 
lation by  the  Government  or  other  artificial 
interference  and  by  the  constant  attempt  of 
human  agencies,  usually  in  combinations,  to 
depress  or  elevate  prices  of  certain  articles  which 
they  seek  to  control  solely  in  their  own  interest. 

An  illustration  of  the  daily  evils  of  selfish 
control  and  manipulation  is  found  in  the  gam- 
bling on  margins  in  the  stock  markets  and  in 
the  grain  pits  of  the  country.  They  are  serious 


COMPETITION  AND   PRICES         65 

economic  and  social  evils  despite  the  fallacious, 
untenable  excuses  offered  in  explanation  of  this 
practice.  It  is  a  curious  instinct  in  human  na- 
ture, when  engaged  in  questionable  proceedings 
or  even  in  proceedings  that  are  distinctly  wrong, 
that  they  invariably  offer  some  other  reason 
and  excuse  than  the  real  one,  which  is  merely 
that  of  selfish  gain. 

At  one  period  in  our  history,  not  so  long  ago, 
the  evils  of  associations  which  sought  to  control 
prices  became  so  apparent  that  they  were  legis- 
lated against  by  what  are  known  as  anti-trust 
laws.  This  legal  procedure,  however,  illus- 
trates in  a  very  singular  and  significant  manner 
that  it  is  impossible  to  interfere  with  the  nat- 
ural play  of  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand, 
no  matter  how  urgent  and  necessary  the  situa- 
tion nor  how  commendable  the  motive,  without 
creating  trouble  and  paying  the  inevitable  price 
of  such  interference.  In  other  words,  in  every 
phase  of  interference  with  natural  laws  one 
evil  simply  produces  another.  Usually  com- 
binations in  the  beginning  seek  to  control  prices 
for  their  own  benefit  and  in  defiance  of  public 
weal. 

The  restraint  of  the  law  is  then  imposed  upon 
such  actions  with  the  result  that  an  entirely 
well-meaning  business  finds  itself  hampered 


66       TRAVELING    SALESMANSHIP 

and  restrained  in  its  natural  course.  This  is 
again  illustrated  in  the  Government  control 
in  relation  to  the  price  of  food  products  during 
the  recent  European  War. 

The  short  harvest  of  wheat  in  1917  precipi- 
tated a  grave  crisis.  It  was  necessary  for  this 
country  to  produce  food  in  great  abundance  for 
the  needs  of  the  Allies  in  order  that  the  war 
might  be  won.  Because  of  this  extraordinary 
demand  from  abroad  and  because  of  reduced 
supply  in  1917  there  was  every  prospect,  in 
fact  every  certainty,  that  the  price  of  wheat 
would  reach  abnormal  figures  with  consequent 
great  social  unrest,  not  only  in  this  country  but 
abroad.  The  Government,  therefore,  fixed  the 
price  which  seemed  fair,  both  to  the  producer 
and  consumer,  stabilizing  the  otherwise  wild 
speculation  in  food  products.  This  fixed  price 
continued  into  1918  and  the  Government  guar- 
anteed the  prices  of  the  crop  of  1919  in  wheat, 
as  no  ending  of  the  war  seemed  likely  in  the 
near  future  and  the  demand  for  wheat  showed 
no  diminution.  When  peace  came,  in  November, 
1918,  there  immediately  ensued  an  instantaneous 
change  in  the  situation  and  it  became  apparent 
at  once  that  since  the  Government  promise,  as 
to  the  fixed  price  of  wheat  to  the  farmer,  must 
be  made  good  until  the  first  of  June,  1920,  the 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         67 

consumers  of  this  country  were  facing  an  enor- 
mous and  unprecedented  loss  because  of  the 
price  they  must  pay  to  the  farmer  for  his  wheat 
crop — a  price  far  above  the  market  price  of 
wheat  as  indicated  by  other  wheat  exporting 
countries. 

An  attempt  to  regulate  prices  according  to 
human  needs  by  human  theories  is  thus  always 
accompanied  by  disturbance  to  the  ways  of 
business,  so  that  the  real  problem  consists  merely 
in  such  government  or  other  artificial  regulation 
and  control  as  shall  prevent  the  manipulations 
and  operations  of  human  greed  and  shall  simply 
allow  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand  free  and 
unrestricted  play. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

COMPETITION   AND    PRICES CONCLUDED 

The  salesman's  part  in  sustaining  prices — Cooperation 
with  his  concern — Necessity  of  salesman  making 
satisfactory  profits — Example  of  salesman  selling 
profitably — Its  good  effect  upon  the  customer — Bar- 
gain sales — Economic  aspect  of  high  prices. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  previous  chapter,  there- 
fore, that  the  salesman's  part  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  prices  is  a  far-reaching  one  in  which  the 
genius  and  spirit  of  salesmanship  has  the  great- 
est scope  for  action  very  early  in  his  career. 
The  salesman  must  have  the  courage  of  his  con- 
victions and  ask  his  prices  as  though  he  expected 
to  get  them  and  not  as  mere  offers  for  barter 
and  compromise.  The  purpose  of  selling  is 
not  mere  volume,  but  rather  profit,  for  it  is  small 
advantage  to  sell  many  goods  unless  they  show 
satisfactory  remunerative  returns.  In  the  last 
analysis,  the  test  of  salesmanship  is  selling  goods 
at  a  satisfactory  profit,  for  any  tyro  can  dispose 
of  them  at  losing  figures. 

There  are  two  salient  facts  which  the  sales- 
man must  always  bear  in  mind.    The  first  is  to 

68 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES        69 

cooperate  with  his  concern  and  be  guided  by 
its  policy  in  the  prices  he  makes.  The  most 
successful  houses  suit  their  action  on  prices  of 
certain  staple  lines  to  conditions.  In  eras  of 
prosperity  when  prices  are  advancing  they  hold 
their  salesmen  strictly  to  the  prices  given  in 
their  catalogues  or  price  lists,  since  in  such  times 
the  demand  is  so  great  that  the  principal  con- 
cern of  the  buyer  is  to  get  goods  rather  than 
vainly  endeavor  to  obtain  lower  figures.  In 
general,  however,  the  policy  of  such  houses  is 
to  exact  from  every  salesman  that  he  show  a 
satisfactory  profit  on  his  sales  or  else  his  serv- 
ices are  of  no  value.  The  salesmen  who  drift 
from  one  house  to  another  in  service,  usually  in 
a  descending  scale,  are,  as  a  rule,  those  who 
fail  in  the  first  essential  of  their  calling,  that 
of  making  a  satisfactory  profit  for  their  house 
and  consequently  for  themselves.  One  of  the 
best  teachers  of  salesmen  in  this  country,  im- 
pressed upon  his  men  that  they  owed  themselves 
and  their  families  this  primal  duty  of  making  a 
profit  on  their  sales  in  which  not  only  the  firm 
but  the  salesman  and  those  dependent  upon 
him  would  share.  Failing  in  this,  there  was 
only  one  sure  fate  he  could  expect: — to  face  the 
future  with  decreasing  earning  powers  and  the 
consciousness  that  he  had  thrown  away  golden 


70       TRAVELING    SALESMANSHIP 

opportunities  because  of  lack  of  foresight  and 
courage.  For  it  is  only  by  sustained  courage 
and  determination  that  the  salesman  can  make 
a  success  of  his  calling. 

The  instinct  and  conscious  purpose  of  the 
buyer  is  always  to  obtain  a  better  figure,  and 
thus  an  advantage;  while  the  business  and  aim 
of  the  seller  is  to  resist  as  best  he  can  this  cease- 
less pressure  which  tends  to  reduce  the  level  of 
prices  and  thus  of  profits.  Like  modern  war- 
fare it  is  a  contest  where  the  natural  advantage 
rests  with  the  offense  rather  than  the  defense. 
From  time  immemorial  the  attitude  of  the  buyer 
is  often  that  of  a  plea  of  necessity  that  he  must 
have  lower  prices  or  else  be  unable  to  meet  the 
competition  of  other  dealers  who  evidently 
have  the  figures  he  asks  for,  or  they  would  not 
be  able  to  make  the  prices  which  seem  habitual 
with  them.  Or,  as  expressed  in  the  Book  of 
Proverbs:  "It  is  naught,  it  is  naught,"  saith 
the  buyer,  "and  when  he  goeth  his  way  he 
boasteth. " 

The  tendency  of  the  salesman  is  to  yield  here 
and  there  until  great  gaps  have  been  torn  in  his 
line.  It  is  then  that  he  needs  to  remember  the 
second  great  salient  fact  of  his  calling  and  that 
is  that  not  only  his  job  but  his  future  depends 
upon  his  upholding  his  margin  in  such  fashion  as 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         71 

shall  be  satisfactory  to  his  firm  and  profitable 
to  himself,  for  nowadays  most  traveling  sales- 
men in  some  way  and  to  some  degree  share  in 
the  profits  they  make  for  their  house. 

There  are  many  methods  by  which  the  buyer 
seeks  to  obtain  lower  prices  than  the  salesman 
offers.  Not  often  by  deliberate  falsification  nor 
by  sharp  practices,  which  in  effect  are  deception, 
and  which  are  becoming  more  and  more  dis- 
credited in  the  business  world,  though  often  the 
buyer  is  himself  honestly  in  error  as  to  figures 
he  can  obtain  from  others,  and  which  he  expects 
the  salesman  to  meet. 

There  are  a  large  number  of  instances  of  these 
alleged  low  prices,  which  are  merely  mistakes 
or  half-truths.  The  average  man  is  more  or 
less  superficial,  taking  much  for  granted,  and 
rarely  getting  to  the  bottom  of  things.  Investi- 
gation often  reveals  many  modifying  or  even 
entirely  different  conditions  which  completely 
alter  the  original  statement.  The  price  quoted 
may  be  for  a  quantity  which  the  buyer  was  un- 
able to  reach,  or  it  may  be  an  old  quotation 
which  has  been  withdrawn,  or  it  may  be  for  an 
article  other  than  that  mentioned  by  the  buyer; 
or  perhaps  it  was  a  palpable  mistake,  or  any 
one  of  a  dozen  other  things,  which  entirely 
change  the  situation.  As  regards  attempts  on 


72       TRAVELING    SALESMANSHIP 

the  part  of  the  buyer  to  deceive,  it  may  be  said 
while  the  old  Adam  remains  in  human  nature 
that  sharp  practices  will  always  prevail  in  some 
phases  of  business,  but  the  ethics  of  buying  and 
selling  are  on  a  much  higher  level  than  those 
which  were  prevalent  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  and  this  is  true  likewise  of  business  prac- 
tices in  general.  One  of  the  methods  used  by 
buyers  is  to  maintain  an  impenetrable  silence 
so  that  the  salesman's  imagination  depicts  a 
much  lower  price  than  the  buyer  really  possesses 
and  in  the  end  he  is  simply  bidding  against 
himself  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  his  own  price 
may  have  been  the  lowest  that  the  buyer  really 
possessed.  There  are  ways  of  conveying  wrong 
impressions  without  actually  making  false  state- 
ments, akin  to  the  shrug  of  shoulder,  spoken 
of  in  Hamlet,  and  the  giving  out  of  ambiguous 
phrases  as  "I  might  if  I  could  or  I  would," 
and  the  like,  intended  to  create-  the  belief  in  the 
mind  of  the  seller  as  to  certain  information 
possessed  by  the  buyer  about  prices,  which  he 
cannot  divulge,  but  concerning  which  the  sales- 
man can  easily  draw  his  own  inference.  There 
are  times  also  when  the  buyer  frankly  discloses 
to  the  salesman  prices  which  he  has  from  sales- 
men of  other  firms,  giving  ocular  evidence  in 
the  shape  of  invoices  from  these  same  firms  or 


COMPETITION  AND   PRICES         73 

orders  placed  with  them.  He  may  even  tell  the 
salesman  that  these  evidences  of  low  prices  are 
shown  only  to  him  as  a  proof  of  the  confidence 
the  buyer  has  in  this  particular  salesman.  There 
are  occasional  instances  where  this  is  really 
true,  but  in  general  it  is  a  dangerous  and  often 
a  fatal  mistake  for  the  salesman  to  credit  such 
statements,  even  though  his  vanity  may  lead 
him  to  do  so.  It  is  usually  well  to  remember 
that  a  buyer  who  betrays  the  prices  of  one  sales- 
man is  likely  to  follow  the  same  practice  with 
other  salesmen,  and  that  there  is  a  homely 
saying  among  hunters,  that  "a  dog  who  will 
fetch,  will  also  carry." 

How  the  salesman  is  to  meet  and  combat 
the  various  methods  cited  in  preceding  pages 
is  practically  a  study  of  human  nature.  He 
must  know  his  man  and  how  far  he  may  go  and 
what  he  can  say  in  the  discussion  of  the  subject. 
There  are  those  among  his  customers  whose 
veracity  and  accuracy  of  statement  are  entirely 
dependable.  To  doubt  their  word,  or  even  to 
ask  for  proof,  may  be  very  poor  policy.  There 
are  others  whom  he  can  frankly  ask  for  facts, 
that  he  may  be  sure  that  there  is  no  mistake. 

While  the  salesman  in  general  should  keep 
posted  as  to  what  his  competitors  are  doing, 
there  is  a  danger  point  in  this  soon  reached 


74       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

where  he  allows  such  information  unduly  to 
influence  his  own  prices,  until  he  becomes  that 
unsuccessful  salesman  of  whom  there  is  a  famil- 
iar saying  in  the  trade,  that  "he  knows  too 
much  about  his  competitors'  prices."  The 
business  of  the  buyer  is  to  purchase  as  cheaply 
as  he  can,  as  a  general  proposition,  and  he  is 
justified  in  using  all  legitimate  means  to  that 
end.  The  ultimate  and  inevitable  effect  upon 
the  salesman  who  is  too  much  influenced  by 
prices  his  competitors  make  is  gradually  to 
reduce  the  level  of  his  selling  prices,  and  to  im- 
bue him  with  the  feeling  that  his  prices  are  not 
right  in  those  lines  which  he  does  not  sell  readily. 
One  of  the  hardest  tests  a  salesman  has  to 
face  is  that  of  an  order  offered  him  at  a  certain 
price,  which  he  must  accept  if  he  is  to  receive  the 
order.  In  other  words,  he  can  take  it  or  leave  it. 
Few  .arguments  are  more  potent  in  securing 
low  prices  than  an  actual  order  which  speaks 
for  itself  in  a  most  persuasive  manner.  It  takes 
both  courage  and  resolution  in  a  salesman  to 
refuse  an  order,  even  though  he  knows  it  will 
have  to  be  taken  at  a  loss,  or  that  it  means 
making  lower  prices  than  he  consistently  should 
and  for  which  there  is  probably  no  real  neces- 
sity. He  is  also  apt  to  delude  himself  by  think- 
ing that  by  accepting  this  order  he  opens  up 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES        75 

the  way  to  further  business  at  regular  prices. 
There  are  times  when  this  is  so,  and  when  it 
pays  to  start  in  thus  with  some  concern  to  which 
he  has  never  sold  at  all  or  only  in  a  small  way. 
But  oftener  it  is  a  confession  of  weakness  and 
gives  the  buyer  the  impression  of  the  salesman 
being  easy,  so  that  he  will  endeavor  to  repeat 
the  same  experiment  at  the  first  subsequent 
opportunity.  It  is  often  merely  a  trap  laid  for 
the  salesman  and  which  should  be  spread  in 
his  sight  in  vain. 

Against  these  and  innumerable  other  tempta- 
tions to  scale  down  his  prices  the  salesman  must 
oppose  not  only  resolution  but  intelligent  meth- 
ods. He  must  refuse  orders  constantly  for  goods 
which  are  clearly  unprofitable  and  the  taking 
of  which  does  not  help  him  in  any  other  way. 
He  should  in  general  expect  to  be  right  in  his 
prices — that  is,  be  in  position  to  meet  legiti- 
mate competition — on  staple  items,  but  his 
constant  purpose  must  be  to  maintain  a  satis- 
factory profit  on  his  sales  on  the  whole,  or  else 
some  day  he  will  find  himself  in  dire  distress. 

There  are  many  ways  of  achieving  his  pur- 
pose. One  is  to  always  bear  in  mind  the  curi- 
ous fact  that  often  the  easiest  goods  to  sell  are 
those  on  which  he  has  fixed  prices  and  conse- 
quently no  leeway.  On  such  goods  the  buyers 


76       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

soon  find  that  arguments  are  of  no  avail  in  ob- 
taining lower  figures  and  so  accept  the  situa- 
tion. This  is  especially  true  of  patented  and 
trade-marked  articles  and  of  special  brand  goods. 
One  obvious  reason  for  the  easy  sale  of  such 
goods  is  the  confidence  the  salesman  feels  in 
asking  their  prices  as  he  knows  he  will  get  them 
and  that  there  is  no  real  argument  why  he 
should  take  less.  Another  notable  way  whereby 
the  salesman  may  maintain  his  percentage  of 
profit  and  still  keep  up  his  volume  of  sales  is  by 
demonstrating  to  his  customer  that  his — the 
customer's — interest  lies  principally  in  buying 
those  goods  which  bear  a  good  profit.  This  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  experienced  dry  goods 
salesman  who  displays  his  line  of  shirts,  and, 
with  rare  good  judgment  and  tact,  instead  of 
first  showing  the  cheaper  and  more  staple  num- 
bers, which  the  customer  would  probably  buy 
in  any  case,  proceeds  to  call  attention  to  the 
higher  priced  and  higher  grade  numbers,  dilating 
upon  the  material  of  which  they  are  made,  the 
workmanship,  and  the  style.  He  first  shows 
a  shirt  for  $72.00  per  dozen,  speaks  of  the  de- 
mand there  is  for  such  an  article  among  those 
of  good  taste  and  wealth,  calls  the  attention 
of  the  dealer  to  the  fact  that  the  shirt  can  easily 
be  retailed  for  $10.00  each,  thus  showing  a 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES        77 

handsome  profit  of  $4.00  each  or  forty  per  cent 
on  the  selling  price.  Also  how  much  more  it 
shall  profit  the  dealer  both  in  the  way  of  money 
made  and  satisfaction  afforded  the  wearer  to 
sell  one  shirt  of  such  grade  and  quality  than  a 
half-a-dozen  of  the  cheaper  grades  on  which  the 
profit  would  be  only  fifty  cents  each.  He  then 
persuades  the  dealer  to  buy  a  small  assortment 
of  each  color  and  size  of  collar,  say  one-quarter 
dozen  each,  and  suggests  to  the  dealer  that  he 
put  some  of  these  shirts  in  his  show  window  as 
the  best  possible  method  of  advertising  them. 
He  next  takes  up  a  $60.00  per  dozen  shirt,  and 
so  on  down  the  line  until  he  reaches  the  cheaper 
and  most  staple  grades  which  he  sells  at  the 
usual  market  price,  but  as  few  as  possible.  When 
he  has  shown  his  samples  and  finished  his  sales 
he  has  run  the  whole  gamut  of  salesmanship. 
He  has  satisfied  his  customer  by  selling  him 
the  competitive  grades  of  shirts  at  the  regular 
going  competitive  prices,  and  thus  taken  care 
of  him,  as  is  the  trade  phrase.  He  has  done 
more,  however,  with  benefit  both  to  himself 
and  his  customer.  For  he  has  sold  the  latter 
goods  of  high  quality  and  merit  on  which  both 
make  a  satisfactory  profit  and  which  are  the 
best  possible  advertisement  with  the  consumer 
who  wears  the  shirts.  The  story  of  a  sale  such 


78       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

as  this,  being  merely  a  recital  of  many  actual 
daily  experiences,  is  an  example  of  a  very  vital 
way  by  which  a  salesman  can  help  his  customer 
to  prosper,  and  this  is  among  his  first  and  most 
important  duties.  He  can  bring  to  the  customer 
the  absolute  necessity  of  building  up  his  busi- 
ness on  the  lines  of  giving  satisfactory  service 
to  his  customers — the  consumers — and  how  a 
large  part  of  such  a  service  must  lie  in  the  dealer 
himself  being  a  salesman  and  selling  goods  in 
the  main  which  the  consumer  will  always  re- 
member with  pleasure  and  satisfaction. 

Every  dealer,  like  every  salesman,  must 
carry  and  sell  some  cheap  goods,  and  must  be 
prepared  to  meet  current  market  quotations 
without,  however,  being  a  cutter  of  these  prices. 
But  these  goods,  however,  are  not  the  ones 
upon  which  stress  is  to  be  laid  nor  any  great 
effort  made  to  sell.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they 
usually  sell  themselves.  The  goods  of  higher 
grade  and  higher  price,  bearing  a  better  profit, 
are  the  ones  which  the  dealer  will  find  require 
salesmanship  to  sell,  but  which  are  the  surest 
foundation  on  which  he  can  build  his  business. 
An  actual  incident  well  illustrates  this.  A  car- 
penter was  once  buying  a  handsaw  and  was 
persuaded  by  the  dealer  to  buy  a  high-grade 
saw  of  a  well-known  brand  at  $2.00  for  the  saw, 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         79 

instead  of  a  cheaper  saw — cheaper  both  in 
quality  and  price — which  he  had  originally 
intended  to  buy.  As  time  went  on  he  was  so 
well  satisfied  with  the  saw  that  he  bought  all 
of  his  tools  of  the  same  dealer  and  of  the  same 
brand  as  the  handsaw.  At  the  end  of  twenty- 
five  years  the  saw,  though  much  worn,  was 
still  in  use,  and  the  carpenter  was  a  living,  walk- 
ing advertisement  of  the  merit  of  that  particular 
brand  of  goods  which  the  dealer  carried  and 
which  were  by  far  the  cheapest  as  well  as  the 
best  in  the  long  run. 

There  are  times,  of  course,  when  the  salesman 
will  have  bargains,  genuine  bargains,  to  offer. 
His  firm  may  have  bought  an  extremely  large 
quantity  of  goods  at  a  very  low  price,  and  on 
that  particular  lot  will  make  very  low  prices. 
Or  they  may  control  a  certain  desirable  article 
and  are  thus  enabled  to  make  very  low  figures 
on  it.  In  such  cases  the  salesman  should  not 
only  cooperate  with  his  concern  by  selling  as 
many  of  the  goods  in  question  as  possible  but 
should  also  use  this  as  a  lever  and  an  argument 
why  his  customers  should  also  buy  more  largely 
of  his  regular  line  in  recognition  of  the  value 
of  the  bargain  priced  article  he  is  offering. 

In  his  effort  to  uphold  prices  against  the 
ceaseless  effort  of  the  dealer  to  beat  them  down, 


8o       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

the  salesman,  perhaps  unconsciously,  is  giving 
voice  to  a  great  economic  axiom  whose  truth  is 
but  dimly  beginning  to  be  perceived. 

Competition  is  undoubtedly  the  life  of  trade 
and  the  cause  and  inspiration  of  good  service. 

That  is  a  lesson  we  have  had  deeply  imbedded 
in  us  by  the  war,  which  showed  that  unified 
control,  fitting  and  necessary  in  war,  is  entirely 
unsuited  and  unfitting  to  peace.  So  it  is  equally 
true  that  unrestricted  competition,  carried  to 
its  logical  and  natural,  tends  to  destroy  those 
who  employ  it.  Meanwhile,  we  have  not  yet 
evolved,  nor  even  conceived  any  practicable 
form  of  socialistic  endeavor  which  is  capable 
of  solving  this  abstruse  and  forbidding  problem. 
Therefore,  we  are  beginning  to  understand  that 
merely  low  prices  are  not  in  themselves  desira- 
ble nor  necessary  to  our  social  and  economic 
welfare,  and  that  in  fact  the  lowest  prices  are 
those  which  are  the  earmarks  of  bitter  and  often 
prolonged  eras  of  depression. 

The  advanced  economic  thought  of  the  day 
leans  to  the  concept  of  the  general  welfare  of 
the  many  as  the  surest  and  most  enduring 
foundation  of  the  prosperity  of  any  nation. 
Such  a  statement  carries  with  it  a  generally 
high  plane  of  living  and  consequently  an  en- 
hanced cost  of  labor,  which  must  affect  the  cost 


COMPETITION  AND  PRICES         81 

of  every  phase  of  production.  So  long,  there- 
fore, as  our  present  industrial  system  endures 
we  cannot  separate  the  economic  relation  of 
prices  and  of  the  purchasing  power  of  the  con- 
sumer, and  the  most  feasible  solution  of  this 
association  seems  to  be  in  a  permanent  increase 
of  the  latter  factor.  As  a  rule  the  only  way 
to  stimulate  production  is  by  making  it  re- 
munerative and  this  inevitably  means  at  least 
comparatively  high  prices.  There  is  a  point 
beyond  which  these  prices  become  profiteering 
at  the  expense  of  the  many,  and  just  what  the 
point  is  and  how  to  prevent  prices  going  beyond 
that  point  seems  to  be  the  outstanding  problem 
of  our  present  economic  life.  In  this,  however, 
we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  momentous  fact 
that  increased  production  in  many  lines  is 
really  the  greatest  need  of  our  civilization,  that 
all  may  have  some  share  of  those  advantages 
and  possessions  now  confined  to  the  compara- 
tive few.  Thus  increased  production  may  be 
found  the  solution  of  some  of  our  present  prob- 
lems of  the  inequalities  of  distribution  and  use 
of  the  material  abundance  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING.     SELLING  NEW  STOCKS 

Value  of  new  stocks  to  the  salesman  and  his  firm — Test  of 
salesmanship — Price  as  a  factor — Confidence  and 
good  reputation  best  arguments — Leads  to  enduring 
relations — Consistency  in  treatment — Articles  suit- 
able for  establishing  agencies — Difficulties  and  per- 
plexities of  such  agreements — Mutuality  of  obliga- 
tions— Tact  and  diplomacy. 

Selling  new  stocks  of  merchandise  to  dealers 
starting  in  business  involves  the  fine  arts  of 
salesmanship,  since  it  demands  all  the  varied 
accomplishments  and  gifts  of  a  salesman  to 
compass  it  successfully. 

The  initial  importance  of  the  sale  consists  in 
establishing  close  relations  with  a  new  customer 
by  providing  him  with  the  necessary  merchand- 
ise in  the  beginning  of  his  career.  The  secondary 
and  often  the  greater  result,  is  the  continuing 
sale  of  future  wants  to  this  same  dealer,  pro- 
vided the  new  stock  be  so  well  and  tactfully 
sold  as  to  be  profitable  to  the  customer  as  well 
as  to  the  firm  making  the  sale,  and  thus  leave  a 
pleasant  taste  in  the  mouth  of  the  buyer.  This 

82 


SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING          83 

is  much  more  difficult  than  making  a  sale  of 
equal  volume  and  value  to  a  dealer  already 
established,  because  it  is  often  the  first  venture 
in  business  of  the  buyer  of  the  new  stock  of 
merchandise,  and  he  is  apt  to  be  nervous  and 
apprehensive  and  not  infrequently  very  partic- 
ular and  "fussy"  about  it.  He  often  attaches 
undue  importance  to  the  size  of  the  bill  he  is 
buying  and  expects  unreasonable  concessions 
in  the  way  of  terms  and  prices.  Besides  there 
are  generally  several  firms  bidding  for  the  stock. 
Hence,  keen  competition  soon  brings  about  that 
condition  often  experienced  in  such  situations 
when  the  dealer  obtains  lower  prices  than  he  is 
likely  to  get  afterwards.  When  the  buyer  decides 
to  shop,  going  from  one  city  to  another,  and 
one  firm  to  another,  the  matter  soon  resolves 
itself  into  a  mere  contest  of  prices  and  the  order 
is  apt  to  go  to  the  lowest  bidder,  regardless  of 
other  considerations.  The  only  value  of  the 
sale  then  is  the  possibility  of  business  in  the 
future  from  the  same  dealer  at  more  remun- 
erative figures.  For  by  tacit  understanding 
between  seller  and  buyer  prices  made  on  new 
stocks  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  precedents  in 
days  to  come. 

The  highest  art  practiced  by  the  salesman 
consists  of  selling  the  stock  by  eliminating  com- 


84       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

petition.  It  becomes  then  the  old,  old  story  of 
gaining  and  holding  the  confidence  of  the  pros- 
pective customer  so  that  he  trusts  largely  to  the 
fairness  and  judgment  of  the  salesman  both  as 
to  prices  and  selection  of  goods.  It  often  hap- 
pens that  the  intending  purchaser  has  but  scant 
experience  in  the  business  in  which  he  is  em- 
barking, especially  if  it  be  a  complicated  line 
of  much  extent  and  variety.  He  consequently 
finds  it  impossible  to  form  an  intelligent  judg- 
ment of  the  figures  presented  him  as  to  whether 
they  are  really  cheap,  and  is  often  very  much 
at  sea  as  to  the  quantity  of  goods  to  be  bought 
and  the  assortment  to  be  selected.  He  realizes 
that  he  may  make  a  serious  blunder  by  over- 
stocking himself  with  unsalable  goods  or  too 
great  quantities,  so  he  is  prone  to  rely  upon  the 
judgment  and  experience  of  some  salesman  who 
can  guide  him  through  the  tangled  maze. 

This  is  the  opportunity  of  the  experienced 
salesman.  His  part  is  to  demonstrate  to  the 
intending  purchaser  that  the  only  wise  course 
is  to  put  himself  into  hands  where  his  interests 
will  be  safeguarded.  His  story  commences 
with  his  own  firm,  its  reliability,  its  standing, 
its  capacity  and  ability,  as  well  as  its  desire  to 
take  care  of  the  dealer.  There  enter  into  his 
argument  all  the  details  of  the  assortment  and 


SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING          85 

nature  of  the  goods  carried  by  the  salesman's 
firm,  of  its  carefulness  in  shipping  goods  com- 
plete, in  attractive  containers,  properly  packed, 
and  of  the  business  efficiency  which  insures  a 
prompt  delivery  of  the  entire  order  in  such 
shipshape  that  the  customer  will  have  but 
little  difficulty  in  transferring  the  goods  to  his 
own  shelves  in  a  speedy  and  intelligent  way. 

The  salesman  must  dwell  upon  this  sale  be- 
ing merely  the  beginning  of  cordial  and  satis- 
factory relations  between  his  firm  and  the  cus- 
tomer and  intimate  that  it  is  all  important 
that  the  dealer  get  started  right,  and  thus  lay 
the  foundation  for  future  success.  The  sales- 
man must  impress  upon  the  intending  customer 
the  supreme  importance  of  making  connections, 
in  the  beginning  of  his  career,  with  a  concern 
with  whom  he  will  be  content  to  maintain  close 
and  profitable  relations  in  the  years  to  come. 
Thus  illustrating  his  principal  argument  which 
is  that  the  buying  of  the  new  stock  is  not  so 
important  as  the  establishing  of  connections 
in  the  very  beginning  with  a  firm  possessing  the 
qualifications  necessary  to  relations  which  will 
be  permanent  and  profitable  to  both  of  the 
contracting  parties. 

The  question  of  prices  is  one  upon  which  the 
dealer  must  be  satisfied  without  the  necessity 


86        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

of  those  unduly  low  figures  which  unrestricted 
competition  implies.  The  salesman  should  real- 
ize that  the  customer  must  be  in  a  position  in 
the  beginning  of  his  career  to  meet  competition 
from  those  already  in  the  business;  consequently 
that  taking  advantage  of  the  dealer,  through 
the  latter's  ignorance,  or  trust  in  the  salesman, 
by  charging  unduly  high  prices  is  sure  to  prove 
a  boomerang  should  the  dealer  either  rightly 
or  wrongly  conclude  that  he  has  been  imposed 
upon. 

Selling  a  new  stock  and  then  failing  to  con- 
tinue the  connection  in  the  way  of  a  large  con- 
secutive business  is  a  tacit  confession  of  a  lack 
of  foresight  and  energy  on  the  part  of  the  sales- 
man. It  is  in  effect  a  sowing  without  reaping, 
and  the  story  of  a  neglected  opportunity  be- 
cause of  bungling  in  the  beginning,  or  else  fail- 
ure to  follow  up  a  favorable  commencement. 

Selling  a  new  stock  gives  the  salesman  an 
opportunity  to  get  a  larger  share  of  the  business 
of  the  new  concern  than  often  is  afforded  him 
in  his  relations  with  those  longer-established 
customers.  It  is  natural  and  inevitable  that 
in  the  days  to  come  the  new  concern  will  divide 
its  trade  and  at  least  buy  to  some  extent  of 
others.  But  the  observant  and  tactful  salesman 
will  still  retain  a  greater  share  than  if  he  had 


SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING         87 

allowed  some  one  else  to  sell  the  new  stock. 
This  is  particularly  true  where  the  salesman 
was  farsighted  enough  to  induce  the  new  cus- 
tomer to  buy  largely  of  goods  owned  and  con- 
trolled by  the  salesman's  firm.  Here,  however, 
is  where  the  salesman's  judgment  must  clearly 
see  the  wisdom  of  not  overdoing  this  to  the 
extent  of  stocking  up  the  new  customer  with 
brands  that  are  not  both  salable  and  profitable. 

Persuading  the  intending  customer  to  place 
himself  in  the  salesman's  hands  in  the  matter 
of  the  new  stock  rather  than  letting  it  out  to 
the  lowest  bidder  is  a  triumph  of  salesmanship 
which  must  be  an  absolutely  sincere  procedure 
if  the  salesman's  relations  with  the  new  firm  are 
to  be  permanent.  In  effect,  the  salesman  must 
make  good,  not  only  for  the  time  but  in  the 
future,  alike  in  his  promises  and  performance 
if  the  selling  of  a  new  stock  is  to  carry  with  it 
the  full  measure  of  benefit  and  profits  to  the 
salesman's  firm.  The  new  customer  must  be 
made  to  realize  by  deeds  rather  than  words 
that  the  connection  he  has  made  is  to  his  last- 
ing benefit. 

Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem  to  those  who 
reckon  price  as  the  main  factor  in  selling  and 
buying,  probably  the  wisest,  most  farsighted, 
and  altogether  profitable  method,  from  the 


88        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

point  of  view  of  the  customer,  in  purchasing  a 
new  stock  is  to  make  such  connection  as  has 
been  indicated,  with  a  reliable  and  capable  con- 
cern which  will  give  him  that  comprehensive 
service  which  is  the  thing  most  to  be  desired 
in  all  business  connections — 

ESTABLISHING  AGENCIES 

In  every  branch  of  business  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  articles  which  are  distinctive  and  pecul- 
iar either  in  the  way  of  construction,  quality, 
patent  rights,  trade-marks,  or  extensive  adver- 
tising. There  may  be,  and  usually  are,  other 
articles  which  serve  the  same  purpose  equally 
well  but  which  are  not  so  widely  or  favorably 
known.  It  is,  therefore,  the  natural  desire  and 
purpose  of  the  distributer,  whether  wholesaler 
or  retailer,  to  monopolize  such  well-known 
articles  and  to  have  the  sale  exclusively  for  his 
own  trade  territory.  By  so  doing  he  is  sure  of 
obtaining  favor  in  the  eyes  of  his  customers  by 
being  the  sole  source  of  supply  of  a  favorably 
known  and  popular  article.  He  thus  acquires  a 
certain  prestige  for  his  enterprise  and  initiative. 
He  is  likewise  enabled  to  take  advantage  of  the 
established  reputation  of  the  articles  in  question 
by  selling  in  a  market  already  created  for  him 
and  thus  reap  where  others  have  sown. 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING         89 

If  it  is  to  his  advantage  to  obtain  the  ex- 
clusive sale  of  these  articles  for  his  territory, 
it  is  often  equally  to  the  advantage  of  the  owner 
or  seller  of  them  to  give  such  exclusive  sale  or 
agency,  as  it  is  usually  termed,  to  some  enter- 
prising dealer  who  will  thus  have  an  incentive 
to  push  the  sale  of  the  goods  and  increase  their 
output. 

Take  the  concrete  case  of  a  well-advertised, 
hence  well-known,  efficient  and  registered  trade- 
mark line  of  heating  stoves  handled  by  some 
jobber  who  has  secured  the  exclusive  agency 
of  them  from  the  manufacturers  for  a  certain 
territory,  say  the  states  of  Missouri,  Illinois, 
Iowa,  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  The  manufac- 
turer agrees  not  to  sell  the  stoves  in  these  states 
to  any  one  other  than  the  jobber  in  question. 

In  return  for  this  concession  the  jobber  binds 
himself  to  push  the  sale  of  these  stoves  in  the 
territory  named  and  to  use  his  utmost  endeavor 
to  sell  as  many  as  possible.  Not  having  any 
competition  on  them  in  the  restricted  territory 
agreed  upon,  the  jobber  has  no  difficulty  in 
always  obtaining  a  satisfactory  price  for  the 
stoves  from  his  trade.  This  price,  of  course, 
must  not  be  so  high  as  to  restrict  or  hamper  in 
any  way  the  sale  of  the  goods,  and  is  usually 
proportionate  to  that  prevailing  in  neighboring 


90        TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

states,  and  is  often  set  by  the  manufacturer 
himself.  For  while  the  retailers  in  these  states 
cannot  buy  from  the  manufacturer  nor  from 
any  jobber  in  the  said  states,  other  than  the 
one  having  the  agency,  there  is  usually  nothing 
to  prevent  them  buying  from  some  other  jobber 
handling  these  same  stoves  in  some  other 
states,  as  they  will  be  likely  to  do  if  the  jobber 
having  the  agency  charges  more  for  the  stoves 
than  they  can  be  bought  in  some  neighboring 
state. 

The  part  the  salesman  plays  in  establishing 
these  agencies  is  a  very  diplomatic  one  when 
the  salesman  travels  for  a  wholesale  distributing 
house.  In  certain  lines  of  goods,  establishing 
agencies  is  often  the  only  feasible  and  practicable 
method  of  creating  a  large  business  for  the  goods. 
For  almost  every  retail  dealer  in  such  lines  has 
the  agency  for  some  one  brand  and  centers  his 
attention  on  making  sales  of  this  particular 
brand.  He  finds  this  concentration  gets  better 
results  than  spreading  his  energy  thinly  over 
two  or  three  brands  of  practically  the  same 
article.  There  is  naturally  the  exception  that 
in  the  line  there  must  be  brands  of  different 
quality  and  prices,  but  these,  of  course,  do  not 
conflict.  Moreover,  the  owners  or  sellers  of  the 
lines  of  goods  usually  sold  on  the  agency  plan 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING         91 

are  not  content  to  give  the  agency  of  their  brand 
to  any  dealer  who  will  not  devote  his  attention 
to  their  sale  exclusively. 

The  problem,  therefore,  of  the  salesman  for 
a  jobbing  house  which  wishes  to  establish  agen- 
cies for  articles  of  a  certain  brand  is  to  select  in 
each  town  he  "makes"  (visits)  the  dealer  best 
fitted  to  obtain  results  in  the  shape  of  large 
sales  of  the  article  under  consideration.  This 
selection  is  sometimes  made  by  the  salesman, 
sometimes  by  his  firm,  and  oftener  by  mutual 
cooperation  between  the  two. 

The  first  consideration  for  the  dealer  or  jobber 
is  mutuality  of  obligation,  since  always  there 
are  some  dealers  who  either  through  indiffer- 
ence or  neglect  fail  to  perceive  that  their  own 
interests,  as  well  as  those  of  the  jobber,  are 
bound  up  in  a  heavy  output  of  the  article  under 
the  agency  plan.  For  obviously  the  jobber  has 
no  other  means  of  distribution  of  the  agency 
article  save  the  retailer  in  question.  So  if  the 
retailer  fails  to  make  adequate  sales  the  jobber 
either  must  suffer  the  loss  of  business  which 
might  be  his,  or  else  withdraw  his  agency  from 
the  retailer,  which  may  cause  a  breach  between 
the  two  and  consequent  breaking  off  of  business 
relations.  This  latter  is  sometimes  a  question- 
able procedure,  especially  when  the  other  busi- 


92       TRAVELING   SALESMANSHIP 

ness  of  the  retailer  may  be  of  greater  value  than 
that  of  the  agency  article.  Hence,  the  part  of 
the  salesman  either  in  selecting  or  in  advising 
the  choice  of  the  dealer  who  shall  have  the 
agency  is  a  matter  of  good  judgment  and  dis- 
cretion. He  must  know  his  men  and  their  pos- 
sibilities, so  that  his  choice  will  finally  rest  upon 
that  one  who  is  the  most  dependable  in  the 
long  run  to  realize  his  share  in  the  agency. 

Most  dealers  are  ready  enough  to  accept  an 
agency,  when  they  are  not  already  committed 
to  something  similar,  but  not  all  are  so  ready  to 
fulfill  their  implied  obligations.  It  is  not  alone 
a  matter  of  conscientiousness  but  also  of  in- 
itiative, energy,  and  industry.  So  in  establish- 
ing the  agency  the  salesman  is  banking  not  only 
on  the  dealer  continuing  in  business  long  enough 
to  make  the  agency  worth  while,  but  likewise  on 
his  business  ability,  his  character,  and  his  tem- 
perament. Besides,  the  salesman  may  offend 
some  other  good  customer  in  the  town,  who 
also  wants  the  agency.  A  matter  of  this  nature 
is  not  easy  to  arrange  without  trouble  and  pos- 
sibly some  loss  of  trade. 

Complications  of  this  nature  test  not  only 
the  tact  and  diplomacy  but  also  the  firmness 
and  strength  of  character  of  the  salesman  who 
may  have  to  be  very  frank,  though  friendly, 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING         93 

in  announcing  why  the  choice  was  made  of  one 
customer  rather  than  another. 

A  most  effective  plan  of  preventing  com- 
plications is  to  offer  to  the  other  customer  some 
article  which  the  salesman's  firm  may  carry  as 
suitable  for  an  agency  arrangement. 

The  choice  once  made,  it  becomes  the  sales- 
man's further  duty  to  follow  up  the  matter  by 
watchfully  seeing  that  the  customer  carries 
out  his  share  of  the  bargain  by  sufficient  sales 
of  the  agency  article  to  make  the  continuation 
of  the  arrangement  worth  while.  He  can  also 
materially  aid  to  this  end  by  suggestions  and 
by  assistance  to  the  customer  in  advertising  the 
agency  article. 

There  are  apt  to  arise  complications  which 
the  salesman  can  often  straighten  out,  since  his 
firm  is  some  distance  away  and  he  is  on  the  spot. 
For  instance,  two  dealers  in  towns  several  miles 
apart  both  have  agencies  of  the  same  articles 
for  their  towns.  A  customer  in  one  town,  for 
some  cause  does  not  trade  with  the  dealer  in 
his  town  who  has  an  agency  article  which  he 
wishes,  so  he  buys  it  from  the  other  town.  Or, 
one  of  the  dealers  sells  the  articles  to  the  farmer 
lying  between  the  towns  at  a  less  price  than 
asked  by  the  dealer  in  the  other  town.  What 
usually  happens  is  best  expressed  by  the  homely 


94       1RAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

phrase  that  the  fat  is  in  the  fire.  For  the  ag- 
grieved dealer,  he  who  lost  the  sale,  is  pretty 
sure  to  demand  that  the  firm  or  the  salesman 
discipline  the  other  dealer,  sometimes  threaten- 
ing to  abandon  the  agency  unless  the  offender 
makes  reparation  or  else  ceases  his  practices. 

The  renewal  of  peaceful  relations  between 
these  two  competitors  is  not  always  an  easy 
matter,  since  the  average  dealer  is  rather  in- 
dependent when  he  feels  that  his  rights  have 
been  assailed.  Sometimes  persuasion  prevails, 
sometimes  the  common  sense  appeal  of  the 
salesman  to  the  better  judgment  of  the  two 
dealers.  It  is  in  such  cases  that  the  personality 
and  standing  with  the  trade  of  the  salesman  are 
most  effective  in  settling  the  difficulty,  especially 
when  the  salesman  is  courageous  as  well  as 
tactful  in  carrying  out  the  policies  of  his  firm. 


CHAPTER  X 

SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING — CONTINUED;  SELLING 
TO  ALL  THE  DEALERS  IN  A  TOWN 

Selling  all  dealers — Its  great  difficulties — Complications 
arising  from  human  nature — Methods  of  handling 
them — Maintaining  the  salesman's  independence — 
Results  of  a  divided  territory — The  reason  for  quan- 
tity prices — Their  advantages — Complications — Not 
an  important  factor. 

The  opposite  problem  of  establishing  agencies 
is,  as  far  as  possible,  selling  to  all  the  dealers  in 
a  town.  On  the  face  of  the  proposition  it  is 
obviously  the  best  and  most  profitable  policy 
and  yet  it  is  the  rare  salesman  who  carries  it 
out  to  anything  like  its  full  possibilities.  It  is 
fraught  with  all  manner  of  difficulties,  chief 
among  them  being  those  set  up  by  human  nature 
itself. 

There  is  a  curious  instinct  in  the  buyer,  which 
often  finds  expression  in  a  desire  to  have  the 
salesman  with  whom  he  does  business,  confine 
his  visits  to  his  town  to  the  buyer's  firm  alone. 
It  is  not  often  put  as  baldly  as  that  but  the 
desire  itself  is  not  uncommon.  Akin  to  this  is 

95 


96       TRAVELING   SALESMANSHIP 

the  wish  that  any  special  concessions  or  prices 
given  by  the  salesman  be  confined  to  the  buyer 
alone;  for  the  latter  realizes  that  such  conces- 
sions or  prices  are  no  longer  special  when  en- 
joyed by  more  than  one  purchaser,  for  the 
chances  then  are  that  they  will  serve  merely 
to  reduce  the  general  price  to  the  consumer. 
Then  again  there  may  be  a  strong  rivalry  be- 
tween two  or  more  dealers  and  they  may  not 
all  like  to  buy  from  the  same  salesman.  Be- 
sides the  salesman  cannot  always  be  sure  of 
gaining  the  good  will  and  confidence  of  every 
dealer,  despite  the  utmost  tactful  efforts  on 
his  part.  Under  such  conditions,  and  they  are 
constantly  encountered  in  more  or  less  modified 
phases,  the  average  salesman  is  apt  to  choose  the 
line  of  least  resistance  and  to  sell  to  those  to 
whom  he  can  with  the  smallest  effort  and  even 
to  become  that  sad  figure  the  "one  man  in  a 
town  salesman,"  often  justifying  his  course  by 
the  amount  of  business  that  he  receives  from 
his  lone  customer. 

The  disadvantages  of  such  a  method  are 
obvious,  and  usually  result  from  causes,  or 
rather  weaknesses,  which  the  salesman  rarely 
admits,  even  to  himself.  Usually  they  are  the 
lack  of  energy  and  industry  on  the  salesman's 
part,  sometimes  born  of  a  desire  to  cover  his 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING         97 

territory  too  quickly,  and  at  the  sacrifice  of 
his  own  independence  and  courage,  because  he 
is  not  willing  to  take  the  chance  of  offending  a 
good  customer  by  soliciting  the  trade  of  this 
customer's  competitors. 

There  is  always  the  serious  possibility  and 
likelihood  of  this  one  customer  dying,  or  going 
out  of  business,  or  failing,  or  having  some  falling 
out  with  the  salesman  or  the  salesman's  firm. 
Then  indeed  the  salesman  is  strictly  "up  against 
it,"  stranded  high  and  dry.  For  under  such  a 
contingency  it  is  certain  that  the  other  dealers 
in  the  town  will  not  buy,  if  they  can  possibly 
avoid  it,  of  one  who  so  completely  turned  them 
down  in  the  past. 

One  successful  method  for  the  salesman  to 
maintain  his  independence  and  his  trade  at  the 
same  time  is  an  effort  to  call  the  customer's 
bluff.  The  argument  is  something  like  this: 
"All  right,  if  I  agree  to  what  you  request  and 
confine  my  sales  to  you  and  do  not  call  upon 
any  other  dealer  in  town,  will  you  on  your  part 
agree  not  to  buy  any  goods  in  my  line  from  any 
one  but  me?  There  are  always,  you  know, 
two  sides  to  an  understanding  and,  of  course, 
you  will  not  ask  me  to  do  anything  that  you  in 
turn  are  not  willing  to  do  yourself."  This  ar- 
gument usually  shows  up  the  pretense  and 


98       TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

selfishness  of  the  dealer's  proposition  since  he 
is  apt  to  refuse  to  make  any  such  initial  agree- 
ment as  the  salesman  suggests.  So  that  the 
latter  is  left  with  a  good  and  valid  case,  which 
the  dealer  has  not  been  able  to  overthrow.  Nor 
is  he  able  to  offer  any  real  business  reason  why 
the  salesman  should  assume  all  the  obligations 
in  a  one-sided  bargain. 

Of  course,  these  considerations  apply  more 
particularly  to  the  general  salesman  with  a 
large  and  varied  line  of  goods;  for  it  is  another 
story  with  the  salesman  of  a  line  of  specialties 
only,  or  of  some  patented  or  trade-marked 
article,  or  a  manufacturer's  salesman  with  a 
limited  line  and  assortment,  for  often  in  such 
cases  the  situation  is  much  akin  to  that  of  es- 
tablishing agencies,  and  consequently  selling 
to  one  dealer  in  a  town  is  the  best  and  most 
productive  method. 

Selling  to  as  many  dealers  as  possible  in  a 
town  means  in  the  beginning  that  the  salesman 
must  travel  more  slowly  and  must  comb  his 
route  most  carefully.  There  will  be  occasions 
when  he  will  lose  more  time  than  will  be  com- 
pensated for  by  the  small  orders  received.  He 
will  also  have  to  make  his  choice  between  cover- 
ing a  large  territory  with  longer  intervals  be- 
tween visits  to  each  customer  and  taking  a 


SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING         99 

smaller  territory  and  working  it  more  thor- 
oughly. 

How  frequently  the  average  salesman  fails 
to  realize  and  reap  the  possibilities  of  his  terri- 
tory is  shown  by  a  familiar  example.  For  vari- 
ous reasons  the  firm  concludes  to  divide  the 
territory  of  a  salesman,  usually  against  his 
strong  protest  that  he  cannot  possibly  get 
enough  business  out  of  his  moiety  to  make  it 
pay.  What  frequently  or  rather  commonly 
happens  is  that  each  salesman  sells  as  many 
goods  in  each  of  the  divisions  as  the  original 
salesman  sold  in  the  former  whole.  It's  all  in 
the  man,  rather  than  in  the  territory.  The 
reason  of  this  is  obvious.  In  the  first  instance, 
that  of  the  large  territory,  the  salesman  mani- 
festly neglected  a  lot  of  trade,  and  because  of 
this  lack  of  attention  it  went  to  other  salesmen 
and  other  firms.  In  the  second  instance,  that 
of  the  divided  territory,  both  under  the  spur  of 
necessity  and  pride  the  salesman  let  nothing 
escape  him  and  his  reward  was  a  larger  business 
in  the  secondary  half  than  the  primal  whole. 
Instances  such  as  this  illustrate  the  vital  neces- 
sity of  the  salesman's  working  his  territory  care- 
fully and  thoroughly. 

In  selling  to  as  many  dealers  as  possible  in  a 
town  there  is  involved  a  frank  and  courageous 


ioo      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

stand  by  the  traveling  salesman  that  he  is  simply 
following  the  dictates  of  duty  and  carrying  out 
his  obligations  to  his  firm.  Some  dealers  may 
bring  pressure  to  bear  on  him  not  to  sell  to  cer- 
tain of  their  competitors.  He  must  make  plain, 
however,  that  his  endeavoring  to  get  all  the 
business  he  can  in  the  town  does  not  mean  that 
he  will  fail  in  his  full  duty  to  each  individual 
customer,  recognizing  and  meeting  their  separate 
claims  to  his  consideration  according  to  their 
business  merits. 

There  are  occasionally  some  dealers  in  a 
town  whose  businesses,  or  character  and  reputa- 
tion are  such  that  it  is  most  unwise  for  a  sales- 
man to  call  upon  them. 

Otherwise  the  most  successful  salesman  is 
apt  to  make  a  practice,  with  the  exception*  of 
such  cases,  of  selling  to  as  many  dealers  as  good 
judgment  dictates.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  of 
experience  that  the  salesmen  who  consistently 
follow  this  practice  are  usually  the  most  popular 
and  esteemed  men  in  their  calling.  For  neces- 
sarily they  must  combine  tact  and  diplomacy 
with  courage  and  independence  but  do  not 
find  it  necessary  or  wise  to  display  these  latter 
traits  in  a  flamboyant  fashion.  Beyond  this 
is  the  fact  that  the  average  retailer  in  any  rep- 
resentative line  of  business  is  constantly  up 


SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING        101 

against  the  hard  facts  of  life,  and  is  usually 
endowed  with  that  common  sense  and  fairness 
which  are  the  saving  graces  of  the  nation.  More- 
over, he  is  a  seller  as  well  as  a  buyer  and  in- 
stinctively recognizes  the  arguments  of  the  seller 
and  their  compelling  force  as  to  the  necessity 
of  the  traveling  salesman  selling  to  whomsoever 
he  can  within  reason.  Experience  also  teaches 
that  the  dealer  loses  nothing  by  this  plan  that 
is  not  the  result  of  his  own  lack  of  initiative 
and  energy.  Furthermore,  it  is  evident  that  a 
larger  market  for  a  line  of  goods  is  created  by 
greater  competition. 

In  the  distinction  in  prices  that  the  salesman 
may  find  it  wise  and  necessary  to  make  to  differ- 
ent customers  there  cannot  here  be  even  an 
approach  to  the  statement  of  a  general  policy. 
Just  how  the  salesman  shall  differentiate  in 
prices  in  respect  to  his  different  customers  de- 
pends upon  the  line  of  goods  he  is  selling,  the 
policy  and  instructions  of  his  firm,  the  condi- 
tions of  business  in  general  and  those  surround- 
ing each  line  that  he  handles,  and  the  nature 
of  the  competition  he  encounters,  and  the 
volume  and  nature  of  each  customer's  business. 

All  these  things  are  matters  of  experience 
and  not  of  formulas.  In  some  branches  of  busi- 
ness, for  instance,  it  is  a  well-recognized  custom 


102      TRAVELING   SALESMANSHIP 

to  give  certain  special  prices  or  discounts  for 
larger  quantities  than  usual,  or  what  are  called 
quantity  prices.  If,  for  instance,  there  is  one 
price  for  a  certain  article  bought  in  one  or  two 
dozen  lots,  and  a  somewhat  lower  price  for  full 
case  lots,  containing  five  dozen  in  a  case  to  be 
taken  at  one  time,  such  distinctions  as  these 
are  based  upon  what  experience  seems  to  in- 
dicate as  sound  business  policy;  the  argument 
being  that  the  cost  of  selling  five  dozen  of  an 
article  at  one  time  is  necessarily  less  than  selling 
one-half  dozen  of  that  article  ten  times  in  order 
to  reach  the  same  volume.  For  as  far  as  the 
salesman's  time  is  concerned,  as  well  as  the 
time  of  the  workers  in  the  firm  filling  the  order, 
it  costs  as  much  to  write  out  the  half  dozen  on 
the  order,  to  get  out  the  goods  in  the  house,  to 
pack  and  ship  them,  and  to  make  out  a  bill  for 
them  as  it  costs  to  put  an  order  for  five  dozen 
through  all  these  operations  and  yet  the  amount 
of  the  sale  of  a  half  dozen  is  only  one-tenth  as 
much  as  the  sale  of  five  dozen.  And  in  the 
final  analysis  the  costs  and  profits  of  a  firm  are 
figured  on  the  dollars  and  cents  amount  of  the 
business  done  rather  than  on  the  tonnage  and 
the  unit  of  quantity. 

In  making  quantity  prices  the  salesman  has 
to  be  most  cautious  never  to  quote  them  to  a 


SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING        103 

customer  who  cannot  take  advantage  of  them, — 
that  is,  to  one  whose  purchases  are  not  suffi- 
ciently large  to  enable  him  to  buy  the  necessary 
quantity  in  one  shipment.  For  the  human  na- 
ture of  the  buyer  is  such  in  every  station  of 
life,  that  knowing  of  the  quantity  price,  he  feels 
that  he  should  get  it,  even  though  the  volume 
of  his  purchases  does  not  fulfill  the  conditions 
upon  which  the  quantity  price  is  contingent. 
So  he  makes  such  pleas  as  being  entitled  to  it 
when  his  purchases  in  time  reach  the  total 
volume  required,  or  because  he  is  at  a  disad- 
vantage with  the  competing  dealer  who  gets 
the  quantity  prices  unless  he  likewise  gets  the 
same  concession.  In  homely  phrase  what  "  sticks 
in  his  craw"  is  the  uncompromising  and  un- 
comfortable fact  that  a  competitor  is  buying 
goods  at  a  less  price  than  he  is. 

Of  course  the  only  logical  reason  for  the 
quantity  price  is  for  the  entire  quantity  to  be 
handled  at  one  time  as  a  matter  of  economy 
to  the  seller  and  the  only  basis  upon  which  he 
can  afford  to  make  the  concession.  Incidentally 
it  is  a  constant  reminder  to  the  salesman  of  the 
correlated  economy  in  his  selling  as  far  as  pos- 
sible all  goods  in  original  packages,  that  is,  the 
small  packages  whose  volume  makes  up  the 
full  case  lots.  For  instance,  an  article  may  be 


io4      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

packed  one-half  dozen  in  a  box,  and  six  dozen, 
or  ten  boxes,  in  a  case.  In  such  instances  the 
salesman  should  always  endeavor  to  persuade 
the  customer  to  buy  at  least  a  half  dozen  of 
these  and  thus  save  the  salesman's  firm  the 
often  useless  expense  of  breaking  the  original 
package,  and  thus  having  to  wrap  up  the  smaller 
quantity  bought,  say  a  quarter  dozen,  leaving 
the  remainder  in  the  box  to  become  all  the  more 
easily  shopworn  and  unsightly. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  actual  experience  quan- 
tity prices  play  but  a  small  part  in  the  business 
of  most  concerns.  The  comparatively  few  ar- 
ticles to  which  this  method  can  be  applied, 
the  few  customers  who  can  really  take  advantage 
of  such  prices  without  seriously  overstocking 
themselves,  and  the  constant  complications 
which  ensue,  usually  do  not  make  the  game 
worth  the  candle. 


CHAPTER  XI 

SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING — CONTINUED;  CHANGING 
CHANNELS    OF   DISTRIBUTION 

Changing  channels  of  distributions — Legitimate  business — 
Department  stores  and  retail  stores  disregard  tradi- 
tion— Fundamental  necessity  of  selling  profitable 
goods — Keeping  track  of  sales — Selling  futures — 
Advantage  to  customers  and  dealers. 

Closely  allied  to  the  policy  of  selling  to  as  many 
dealers  as  possible  in  a  town,  is  that  of  detect- 
ing and  taking  advantage  of  the  constantly 
changing  channels  of  distribution.  These  altera- 
tions in  the  currents  of  distribution  usually  come 
so  slowly  and  so  imperceptibly  that  often  the 
transformation  has  taken  place  before  the  aver- 
age man  realizes  its  import.  It  is  a  general  trait 
of  human  nature  to  consider  the  present  as  per- 
manent, and  most  men  are  unable  to  conceive  of 
anything  radically  different  from  that  now  exist- 
ing. This  is  why  some  firms  persist  in  clinging 
to  a  line  of  goods  when  the  days  of  its  usefulness 
are  nearly  over;  this,  too,  in  spite  of  warnings 
and  manifestations  that  are  plain  to  all  save 
those,  who  having  eyes,  see  not. 

105 


io6     TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

It  was  the  business  creed  of  the  past  that 
certain  lines  of  trade  must  confine  themselves  to 
what  was  called  legitimate  business,  and  that 
handling  any  articles  outside  of  those  particular 
lines  was  contrary  to  good  business  principles 
and  consequently  was  tabooed.  Grocery  stores 
were  not  supposed  to  sell  hardware,  nor  must 
dry  goods  stores  sell  groceries,  nor  must  hardware 
stores  sell  any  of  the  foregoing  lines.  At  best 
there  was  never  any  consistency  in  the  practice 
of  the  various  branches  of  business,  since  each 
division  of  trade  was  apt  to  trench  upon  the 
prerogatives  of  other  divisions  by  handling  such 
items  outside  of  its  supposedly  legitimate  sphere, 
as  could  be  sold  to  advantage. 

These  forays  into  each  other's  territory  were 
not  presumed  to  take  place  and  such  infractions 
were  tacitly  overlooked  unless  they  assumed  un- 
due proportions.  The  modern  department  store 
set  the  fashion  of  handling  everything  under  one 
roof,  and  other  retail  stores  followed  suit  to  the 
extent  of  handling  such  outside  lines  as  attracted 
trade  or  added  appreciably  to  their  volume  and 
profits  of  business. 

In  the  main  the  distinctive  character  of  each 
branch  of  business  remains  unaltered,  clustering 
around  a  central  core  of  a  characteristic  line  of 
trade,  yet  upon  the  fringes  are  many  new  addi- 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING        107 

tions,  many  of  them  seemingly  irrelevant  and 
not  germane  to  the  great  body  and  character 
of  the  business,  though  in  fact  they  are  in  gen- 
eral the  effect  of  a  definite  demand. 

The  limitations  as  to  the  nature  and  assort- 
ment of  the  stock  of  merchandise  of  any  dis- 
tributing commercial  organization  are  largely 
those  set  by  the  matter  of  the  possible  sale  and 
profit  of  any  new  line  and  also  by  human  con- 
ventions. A  most  compelling  reason  among 
wholesale  distributers  is  the  nature  of  the  goods 
handled  by  their  retail  customers.  A  dry  goods 
jobber,  for  instance,  finds  that  retail  dry  goods 
dealers  have  taken  to  handling  trunks,  valises, 
and  jewelry.  So  he  immediately  adds  these 
goods  to  his  assortment  since  it  is  both  easy  and 
economical  for  him  to  sell  these  articles  along 
with  his  regular  lines  of  dry  goods.  Consumers 
follow  the  inherited  habit  of  going  to  certain 
kinds  of  shops  for  certain  kinds  of  goods,  and, 
save  in  department  stores,  are  not  easily  at- 
tracted to  stores  for  articles  which  they  do  not 
naturally  associate  with  the  character  of  mer- 
chandise most  carried  by  such  concerns. 

One  rather  notable  economic  revolution,  on  a 
small  scale,  in  opposition  to  this  practice  has  re- 
cently upset  many  of  these  conventions  as  to 
where  goods  are  to  be  bought.  The  inherent 


io8      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

problem  of  drug  stores  has  been  of  late,  how  to 
obtain  a  sufficient  volume  of  business  to  over- 
come their  expense  account.  The  reasons  for 
this  are  numerous  and  are  principally  the  small 
purchases  of  drugs — in  dollars  and  cents — made 
by  each  customer.  The  problem  was  compli- 
cated by  the  obvious  fact  that  the  desired  volume 
could  not  readily  be  found  in  an  increase  in  sales 
of  drugs  and  kindred  articles.  An  apparently 
little  thing,  the  soda  water  fountain,  furnished 
the  solution,  by  first  attracting  to  itself  cus- 
tomers who  afterwards  became  purchasers  of  out- 
side lines  and  articles  which  the  intelligent  and 
enterprising  druggists  added  to  their  assortments, 
such  as  stationery,  magazines  and  periodicals, 
candy,  some  articles  of  outdoor  sports  such  as  base 
ball  and  tennis  goods,  fishing  tackle,  some  readily 
selling  lines  of  cutlery,  shaving  appliances  playing 
cards,  and  a  number  of  other  items  all  taken  from 
other  lines  of  business  and  apparently  without 
necessary  connection  with  the  drug  trade. 

So  the  retail  grocer  added  wooden  ware,  house- 
hold utensils,  wash  boards,  step  ladders,  and  the 
like. 

Then  the  retail  hardware  dealer  added  auto- 
mobile sundries,  bicycles,  paint,  and  sometimes 
window  glass,  crockery,  and  a  line  of  silver 
plated  ware. 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING       109 

So  now  it  is  hard  to  make  any  distinction  as 
to  what  is  legitimate  to  a  distributing  business 
and  what  is  not. 

The  natural  effect  upon  the  jobber  was  not 
only  to  cause  him  to  add  to  his  line  everything 
that  the  retail  trade  in  his  branch  of  business 
carried  in  stock,  but  to  seek  to  sell  what  he  car- 
ried to  those  outside  retailers  who  handled 
similar  articles. 

The  problem  still  remains  for  the  salesman 
whom  he  shall  regard  as  "legitimate,"  and  to 
whom  he  shall  sell  without  offending  and  pos- 
sibly estranging  some  of  his  regular  trade.  He 
may  find  that  the  druggist  sells  more  of  some 
of  the  new  lines  he  has  recently  added  than  the 
retailer  who  has  always  handled  them.  Yet, 
this  regular  dealer  with  difficulty  brings  himself 
to  regard  the  druggist  as  a  legitimate  competitor. 

The  salesman's  province  is  to  watch  and  judge 
whither  the  channel  of  distribution  is  drifting, 
for  that  in  the  main  must  be  his  trend.  If  he 
fails  to  sell  to  the  dealer  in  new  goods,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  some  one  else  will  do  so.  Yet,  in  some 
instances  he  may  display  poor  judgment  if  he 
risk  the  large  trade  of  his  regular  customer  for 
that  of  comparatively  unimportant  items  bought 
by  the  outside  dealers.  It  is  here  that  judgment 
and  diplomacy  are  needed  largely  in  the  begin- 


no     TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

ning,  for  later  the  matter  usually  takes  care  of 
itself.  After  the  initial  readjustment  the  con- 
suming trade  goes  to  those  who  most  deserve  it, 
and  the  good  sense  of  those  in  the  regular  trade 
who  at  first  may  have  felt  aggrieved  accepts  the 
situation  and  it  often  stimulates  them  to  re- 
newed efforts  to  recover  the  trade  they  seem  in 
danger  of  losing. 

So  the  salesman  who  consistently,  yet  tact- 
fully, follows  the  policy  of  selling  to  as  many 
dealers  in  a  town  as  possible  and  as  far  as  good 
judgment  permits,  finds  himself  still  in  the  chan- 
nels of  distribution,  so  long  as  he  ceaselessly  ob- 
serves their  trend  and  tendency.  Moreover,  the 
channels  are  not  always  entirely  changed  but 
are  often  rather  subdivisions  shared  between  the 
regular  and  the  new  trades.  There  are  changes, 
however,  which  are  permanent,  such  as  the  ab- 
sorption of  the  saddlery  "and  harness  shop  and 
likewise  the  tinshop  by  the  retail  hardware  deal- 
ers, and  here  the  salesman  must  have  prescience 
to  see  the  inevitable  before  it  happens,  and  not 
afterwards,  and  adjust  his  course  accordingly. 

SELLING  PROFITABLE  GOODS 

The  aim  and  purpose  of  selling  is  to  make  a 
profit  as  well  as  to  attain  volume.  The  best  way 
to  accomplish  this  is  by  selling  as  many  profit- 


SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING       in 

able  goods  as  possible.  There  is  often  a  wide 
difference  in  the  margin  of  profit  between  lines 
of  goods  and  this  difference  is  caused  by  condi- 
tions beyond  the  control  of  the  salesman.  Cer- 
tain lines  in  each  branch  of  business  bear  a  small 
and  often  insufficient  margin  of  profit,  and  the 
salesman  has  to  accept  this  condition. 

There  is,  however,  a  compensation  for  this, 
and  it  lies  entirely  with  the  salesman,  for  it  is  a 
matter  of  experience  that  the  salesman  can  de- 
termine to  an  appreciable  degree  the  nature  of 
the  goods  he  sells.  In  this  lies  the  distinction, 
as  deep  as  a  well  and  as  wide  as  a  church  door, 
between  a  real  salesman  and  one  who  merely 
takes  such  orders  as  his  customers  give  him.  A 
salesman  for  a  grocery  jobber  often  finds  himself 
forced  by  competition  to  sell  sugar  on  a  very 
small  margin.  Under  such  conditions  it  is  a  test 
of  his  salesmanship  to  "sweeten  up"  the  order 
through  persuasion  with  the  customer  by  also 
working  in  a  line  of  fancy  groceries,  high-grade 
food  products,  and  similar  profitable  items. 

It  is  one  of  the  interesting  facts  of  business 
history  that  a  salesman  usually  sells  what  he 
likes  to  sell,  and  this  generally  consists  of  goods 
that  he  knows  and  fancies.  The  most  success- 
ful salesmen  are  those  who  sell  the  most  goods 
and  make  the  best  profits  and  in  so  doing  sell  a 


ii2      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

great  variety  of  goods  in  order  to  make  a  good 
general  average  of  profit. 

Most  firms  have  some  kind  of  an  arrangement 
with  their  salesmen  whereby  the  latter  share  to 
an  extent  in  the  profits  which  they  make,  so  that 
the  salesman  has  constantly  before  him  the  in- 
centive of  enlightened  self-interest.  He  must 
also  remember  that  it  is  most  desirable  to  sell 
as  many  as  possible  of  the  goods  which  his  house 
controls.  There  is  no  competition  on  them,  for 
they  can  be  had  only  from  his  firm.  So  on  such 
lines  the  salesman  is  assured  of  a  continuing 
business. 

KEEPING  TRACK  OF  SALES 

It  is  well  for  the  salesman  to  keep  track  of  the 
total  volume  of  sales  he  makes  each  customer  if 
his  firm  is  willing  to  furnish  him  this  informa- 
tion from  its  books.  He  can  thus  know  all  the 
time  whether  he  is  gaining  or  losing  ground,  and 
seek  the  cause  and  apply  the  remedy  in  the 
latter  case.  By  the  same  token  the  salesman 
on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  each  customer  finds 
it  of  great  advantage  to  refer  to  his  order  book 
and  see  what  he  sold  the  customer  in  question 
on  his  former  trip.  It  gives  him  an  immediate 
start,  especially  in  the  line  of  seasonable  goods. 
If,  for  instance,  he  has  sold  a  line  of  winter  dress 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING       113 

goods  the  previous  season  to  a  certain  customer, 
when  the  time  comes  around,  he  can,  by  refer- 
ring to  his  order  book,  refresh  his  memory  on 
the  former  transaction  as  to  goods,  quantities, 
and  prices.  He  is  then  primed  for  the  sale  and, 
moreover,  can  make  quite  an  impression  upon 
the  customer  by  calling  attention  in  detail  to  the 
former  sale  of  a  year  ago,  showing  entire  famil- 
iarity with  it,  and  suggesting  certain  changes 
for  the  coming  season.  The  customer  is  very 
apt  to  feel  flattered  at  the  interest  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  transaction  displayed  by  the  sales- 
man as  it  indicates  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
the  customer. 

SELLING  FUTURES 

One  of  the  most  important  phases  of  salesman- 
ship is  what  is  known  as  futures  and  consists 
principally  in  selling  seasonable  goods  for  future 
delivery.  Seasonable  goods  are  those  which  sell 
largely  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  because  of 
the  weather  conditions  prevailing  at  such  periods. 
For  instance,  ice-cream  freezers  are  seasonable 
in  warm  weather  and  sell  in  the  Summer,  while 
heating  stoves  are  seasonable  in  cold  weather 
and  sell  in  Winter. 

Every  branch  of  business  has  a  large  propor- 
tion of  seasonable  goods  in  its  assortment, — such 


n4      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

as  winter  and  summer  clothing  in  the  dry  goods 
trade,  agricultural  tools  and  machinery  in  the 
implement  trade,  and  the  like.  Articles  used  in 
outdoor  sports  are  naturally  seasonable,  such 
as  skates  in  Winter  and  baseball  and  tennis 
goods  in  Spring  and  Summer,  and  guns  and 
ammunition  for  hunting  wild  game  in  Fall  and 
Winter. 

Consequently  all  these  goods  are  sold  as  fu- 
tures. They  must  be  made  up  by  the  manufac- 
turer some  time  in  advance  of  the  actual  use 
by  the  consumer  that  they  may  be  ready  for  the 
user  when  the  season  opens.  They  are  first 
bought  by  the  .jobber,  then  distributed  to  the 
retailer  who  has  them  ready  for  the  final  sale 
when  the  season  opens.  Thus  seasonable  goods 
used  by  the  consumer  from  May  to  July  are  pre- 
pared for  by  the  manufacturer  the  previous 
August,  who  then  purchases  the  necessary  ma- 
terial to  go  into  these  goods  and  makes  his  con- 
tracts with  the  wholesale  distributer  for  ship- 
ments at  a  future  date, — say  from  November  to 
January,  according  to  latitude,  hence  the  name 
futures.  The  wholesaler  in  turn  sells  to  retailers 
for  shipments  from  February  to  May.  Spring 
and  Summer  seasonable  goods  are  naturally 
bought  earlier  in  the  season  in  Southern  latitudes 
than  in  Northern  latitudes,  while  naturally  Fall 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING       115 

and  Winter  seasonable  goods  are  purchased  ear- 
lier in  Northern  latitudes. 

As  the  goods  are  bought  both  by  jobber  and 
retailer  some  time  in  advance  of  their  actual  use 
the  matter  is  equalized  by  a  well-understood 
system  of  terms  and  datings  from  manufacturer 
to  jobber,  and  from  jobber  to  retailer.  Certain 
seasonable  goods  bought  by  the  jobber  in  De- 
cember and  January  will  be  made  payable  April 
or  May,  less  the  usual  cash  discount,  and  the 
wholesaler  will  extend  the  same  general  terms  to 
the  retail  dealer. 

The  argument  of  the  salesman  to  the  retail 
dealer  to  induce  him  to  place  his  order  for  stoves 
in  January  and  to  have  them  shipped  in  July  is 
based  upon  the  necessity  of  the  retailer  thus 
anticipating  his  wants  if  he  is  to  be  sure  to  get 
the  goods  when  he  needs  them.  Should  the  re- 
tailer delay  in  so  doing  he  runs  the  risk  of  finding 
that  other  more  forehanded  dealers  must  be 
served  first,  and  that  consequently  he  may  not 
get  the  goods,  say  stoves,  until  it  is  very  late  in 
the  season  and  thus  may  miss  many  sales.  For 
in  the  height  of  the  season,  say  in  November  and 
December,  when  the  demand  is  for  stoves  for 
immediate  use  by  the  consumers,  the  factories 
are  so  crowded  with  "rush  orders"  or  "fill  in" 
orders  that  they  usually  have  more  business 


ii6      TRAVELING   SALESMANSHIP 

than  they  can  handle  promptly.  If  all  the  job- 
bers and  retailers  refused  to  buy  stoves  until 
they  actually  needed  them  in  cold  weather,  it 
would  be  impossible  to  get  them. 

One  system  of  selling  futures  is  what  is  known 
as  collective  car  lots.  A  jobber,  for  instance,  in 
the  Central  West  has  a  salesman  traveling  in 
the  Southwest  who  sells  futures  in  the  shape  of 
agricultural  hand  tools  and  implements  in  the 
way  of  collective  car  lots.  As  the  salesman 
travels  from  town  to  town  he  makes  up  this 
collective  car  by  taking  enough  orders  from  his 
customers  to  fill  the  car  in  question.  The  goods 
are  then  assembled  in  one  car,  "a  collective 
car,"  shipped  from  his  firm  to  a  central  point  in 
his  territory,  where  bulk  can  be  broken  and  the 
various  lots  quickly  reshipped  to  the  town  of 
each  respective  customer.  The  advantages  of 
this  method  are  that  the  full  car  takes  less  time 
in  transit  than  the  same  shipment  in  less  than 
car  lots  and  the  goods  are  apt  to  go  through  in 
better  condition  because  as  there  are  fewer  ship- 
ments they  are  not  handled  so  often.  The  goods 
are  to  be  used  by  the  farmers  in  the  Spring  but 
are  shipped  by  the  wholesale  distributer  along 
in  January  or  February,  so  that  the  dealer  has 
them  on  hand  when  the  demand  comes  in  the 
Spring. 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING        117 

The  system  of  future  orders  offers  many  op- 
portunities to  the  resourceful  and  observant 
salesman  to  get  business  which  he  otherwise 
could  not  obtain.  He  assures  his  customers  by 
this  method  that  they  will  have  seasonable  goods 
when  they  need  them  if  they  will  give  him  the 
orders  in  advance.  The  real  merchandising 
value  of  seasonable  goods  consists  in  having 
them  in  stock  when  the  demand  for  them  comes, 
because  their  season  is  short  compared  with 
regular  goods,  and  lost  opportunities  in  the  way 
of  being  out  of  the  goods  in  their  season  cannot 
be  repaired.  Besides  the  retailer  acquires  great 
prestige  by  having  the  goods  on  hand  for  his 
customers,  who  usually  wait  until  the  last  mo- 
ment before  purchasing,  and  then  are  much  dis- 
gruntled if  the  dealer  cannot  supply  their  wants. 
The  salesman  also  finds  that  the  plan  of  future 
orders,  especially  in  collective  cars,  is  of  great 
advantage  in  his  competition  with  the  nearby 
jobbers,  whose  leading  argument  for  getting 
business,  and  the  one  he  finds  hardest  to  answer, 
is  their  ability  to  make  prompt  deliveries  to  the 
trade  in  their  territory  because  of  their  being  so 
close  at  hand.  This  does  not  apply  to  such  an 
extent  on  future  orders  where  time  is  given  and 
the  necessity  for  haste  is  not  immediate.  The 
salesman  always  finds  that  future  orders,  prop- 


ii8      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

erly  handled  by  him  and  his  firm,  are  a  source  of 
strength  to  him  with  his  trade  and  assist  him 
greatly  in  getting  "fill  in"  orders  later  in  the 
season  for  the  same  goods  that  are  wanted  for 
immediate  needs. 

Contrariwise,  futures  badly  handled,  not 
shipped  promptly  nor  complete,  are  handicaps 
which  his  trade  remembers  and  which  excuses 
and  explanations  fail  to  remove. 

Nothing  is  of  more  importance  in  selling  fu- 
tures than  that  the  salesman  have  his  customer 
realize  how  necessary  it  is  that  the  customer  get 
the  goods  in  early  and  thus  have  them  when 
needed.  That  is  the  matter  of  prime  importance 
compared  with  which  the  price  paid  is  a  minor 
affair.  On  the  other  hand  the  salesman  should 
not  persuade  the  customer  to  overstock  himself 
in  his  purchase — for  this  results  in  the  cus- 
tomer's carrying  the  surplus  stock  over  into  the 
next  season,  some  months  away,  and  at  quite 
an  expense  to  himself.  The  customer  is  apt  to 
get  "sore"  over  such  a  happening  and  to  cherish 
it  against  the  salesman,  especially  as  he  has  con- 
stantly before  him,  in  the  goods  themselves,  a 
reminder  of  his  own  bad  judgment. 


CHAPTER  XII 

SOME    PHASES    OF    SELLING CONCLUDED; 

ADVERTISING 

What  advertising  accomplishes — The  power  of  suggestion 
— The  salesman's  part  in  it — The  power  of  conviction 
— The  contagion  and  power  of  enthusiasm — Loyalty, 
a  misunderstood  virtue — Its  obligations — Advantage 
and  profits  of  new  articles — Mistake  of  selling  un- 
salable goods  to  customers — Assisting  customers  in 
methods  of  merchandising. 

There  is  one  phase  of  advertising  which  is  little 
understood  by  the  average  advertiser,  and  yet 
which  is  vital  to  the  success  of  an  advertising 
campaign  by  any  manufacturer  or  wholesale 
distributer.  It  is  the  possession  of  an  efficient 
selling  force  as  a  necessary  adjunct  to  successful 
advertising.  Well  done  advertising  does  not,  as 
is  commonly  supposed,  of  itself  create  such  a 
demand  for  the  article  advertised  that  it  then 
will  be  generally  called  for  by  the  consuming 
public.  What  is  really  accomplished  by  adver- 
tising is  done  through  the  power  of  suggestion 
so  that  the  intending  purchaser  of  an  article  will 
be  favorably  disposed  toward  it  when  brought 
to  his  attention. 

119 


120     TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

The  retailer  cannot  be  expected  voluntarily 
to  herald  the  merits  of  each  advertised  article 
that  he  carries  in  stock,  but  must  rather  center 
his  attention  on  those  which  pay  him  the  great- 
est profit. 

The  part  the  salesman  has  to  play  is  keeping 
constantly  before  his  customers  the  merits  and 
advantages  of  the  particular  advertised  articles 
which  his  firm  handles.  If  these  are  profitable 
to  the  retailer,  his  arguments  will  then  be  all  the 
stronger  and  more  compelling.  His  ultimate 
aim  must  be  gradually  to  persuade  his  trade  to 
call  the  attention  of  their  customers  to  these 
advertised  articles  and  thus  complete  the  chain 
of  the  effects  of  advertising. 

While  it  is  true  that  success  in  advertising 
depends  largely  upon  constant  reiteration  and 
keeping  everlastingly  at  it,  yet  it  is  equally  true 
that  the  salesman  must  beware  of  overdoing  the 
matter  by  too  unceasingly  dwelling  upon  the 
articles  advertised.  There  is  an  element  in 
human  nature  which  grows  weary  of  constant 
repetition  of  the  same  story  and  this  often  with- 
out regard  to  the  nature  of  the  tale.  The  only 
distinction  is,  that  matters  of  much  merit  are 
not  so  soon  wearied  of  as  those  of  more  transient 
attractions.  The  Greeks  got  tired  of  hearing 
Aristides  called  the  Just,  and  so  banished  him 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING        121 

to  get  rid  of  him.  It  is  also  on  record  that  after 
the  National  Assembly  of  France,  during  the 
Reign  of  Terror,  had  formally  abolished  the 
Deity  as  non-existent,  he  was  discovered  in  a 
new  form  by  Robespierre,  and  was  so  exploited 
by  the  latter  that  Danton  was  driven  to  remark 
that  Robespierre  and  his  "Supreme  Etre"  (Su- 
preme Being)  were  getting  to  be  a  bore.  The 
salesman  must  consequently  mingle  considera- 
tion and  prudence  with  his  enthusiasm  in  voic- 
ing the  merits  of  his  favorite  brands. 

The  most  effective  way  in  which  the  salesman 
can  further  the  sale  of  the  advertised  articles 
is  convincing  his  customers  that  they  are  all 
they  are  claimed  to  be.  Hence  the  dealer  can 
consistently  advocate  the  sale  of  such  articles 
as  will  surely  give  satisfaction  and  will  there- 
fore prove  to  be  repeaters,  that  is,  they  are  goods 
which  are  constantly  called  for,  and  thus  in  fact 
largely  sell  themselves,  which  is  the  final  end 
and  aim  of  all  advertising. 

Most  men  are  responsive  to  the  call  of  genuine 
merit,  and  moreover  take  pleasure  in  commend- 
ing and  recommending  it.  Besides  the  salesman 
must  himself  be  the  best  advertisement  of  his 
special  line  of  goods  by  the  sincerity  of  his  belief 
in  them  and  in  their  merit.  Indeed,  this  sin- 
cerity of  belief  is  only  another  phase  of  the  en- 


122     TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

thusiasm  which  is  one  of  the  most  convincing 
and  most  essential  qualities  of  salesmanship. 
Conviction,  like  charity,  begins  at  home.  But 
when  thoroughly  domiciled  it  is  one  of  the  most 
contagious  of  all  human  traits.  History  is  full 
of  the  stories  of  fanatics,  wild-eyed  philoso- 
phers, and  authors  of  more  fantastic  and  impos- 
sible theories  who  impressed  mankind  and  had 
innumerable  and  devoted  followers  because 
they  were  first  of  all  profoundly  convinced  of 
the  undying  truth  of  the  doctrines  they  preached. 
Belief  in  one's  self  must  invariably  precede  the 
belief  of  others  in  you.  So  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  salesman  for  the  articles  he  sells  is  the  surest 
way  to  further  his  cause  by  convincing  his  cus- 
tomers of  the  truth  of  his  own  belief.  This  phase 
of  enthusiasm  is  not  easily  simulated  nor  does 
the  imitation  pass  muster  for  any  length  of  time. 
The  business  world  in  which  the  salesman  travels 
quickly  and  unerringly  recognizes  whether  he 
rings  true  or  merely  gives  forth  an  uncertain 
sound.  It  is  true  of  every  man  that  he  fools 
himself  oftener  than  he  does  others. 

The  most  convincing  arguments  of  the  sales- 
man are  the  genuine  enthusiasm  with  which  he 
presents  the  story  of  his  wares  as  the  reasons 
why  they  should  be  bought.  The  manner  in 
which  a  dry  goods  salesman  tells  the  quality, 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING        123 

merit,  and  style  of  the  fine  laces  and  embroideries 
he  displays  may  easily  be  a  type  of  the  persuasive 
power  of  giving  evidence  of  the  faith  that  is  in 
him.  It  is  the  same  trait  and  the  same  method 
which  makes  converts  of  men  in  the  serious 
matters  of  life  and  which  sustains  them  in  time 
of  stress  and  trial. 

Akin  to  this  enthusiasm  for  his  calling  is  the 
loyalty  the  salesman  must  feel  for  his  firm,  when 
such  loyalty  is  deserved  and  well  placed.  We 
are  apt  to  think  of  loyalty  as  an  instinctive,  but 
most  praiseworthy,  and  undiscriminating  virtue, 
when  in  reality  it  should  mark  every  form  of  em- 
ploying and  employment  if  the  best  results  be- 
tween the  two  are  to  be  had. 

The  Stuarts,  Kings  of  England,  stand  out  in 
history  as  types  of  monarchs  and  leaders  upon 
whom  for  four  generations  there  was  lavished 
an  untold  wealth  of  misplaced  and  unappre- 
ciated loyalty.  Many  of  the  best  and  finest 
characters  of  the  times  gave  their  fortunes  and 
lives  gladly  in  the  cause  of  a  race  who  furnished 
some  of  the  worst  kings  England  ever  knew. 
Nowadays  loyalty  is  more  discriminating,  not 
so  long  lived,  and  more  careful  where  it  bestows 
itself.  The  firm  which  the  salesman  represents 
should  first  of  all  deserve  his  loyalty,  knowing 
that  it  is  in  its  power  to  have  and  to  hold  it. 


I24     TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

Equally  must  the  salesman  recognize  the  mu- 
tuality of  obligation  by  unchanging  loyalty  on 
his  part  to  the  firm  and  its  interests.  He  must 
always  be  their  representative  in  every  sense 
when  on  the  road,  and  never  speak  of  them 
slightingly  nor  in  fault-finding  fashion.  This 
does  not  mean  that  he  shall  not  be  conscious  of 
such  mistakes  as  they  must  inevitably  make  at 
times,  just  as  the  salesman  does  in  like  manner. 
But  it  is  the  manner  in  which  he  handles  such 
mistakes  which  is  the  real  test  of  his  loyalty. 
On  the  one  hand  he  can  explain  to  the  customer 
how  fallible  even  the  best  regulated  and  most 
systematic  concerns  are,  and  at  the  same  time 
assure  the  customer  that  he  can  depend  upon 
the  firm  doing  the  right  thing  when  the  facts 
are  fairly  presented  to  them.  Or  on  the  other 
hand  he  can  criticise  the  action  of  his  concern 
without  offering  any  palliation  or  excuse.  The 
first  method,  when  done  reasonably  and  tact- 
fully, is  the  surest  way  to  gain  the  customer's 
respect.  The  second  plan  is  almost  sure  to 
lose  that  respect.  There  is  an  instinctive  feel- 
ing in  every  man  which  is  expressed  in  the 
homely  condemnation  of  the  dog  which  bites 
the  hand  which  feeds  it.  If  for  any  reason 
the  salesman  cannot  truly  be  loyal  to  his  firm, 
then  he  should  find  other  employment,  and 


SOME  PHASES  OF  SELLING       125 

meanwhile  refrain  from  any  expression  of  his 
real  feeling. 

It  makes  a  strong  impression  upon  customers 
for  the  salesman  always  to  have  the  newest  and 
latest  articles  in  his  line.  Such  a  course  estab- 
lishes for  him  and  his  firm  the  reputation  for 
energy  and  progressiveness.  It  also  offers  the 
customer  the  opportunity  to  constantly  bring 
new  and  attractive  articles  to  the  notice  of  his 
own  trade,  and  thereby  gain  the  reputation  of 
being  up  to  date  in  his  stock  and  assortments. 
Moreover,  new  articles  are  usually  more  profit- 
able, while  their  novelty  lasts,  than  those 
familiar  to  the  trade.  Also,  they  are  better 
sellers,  for  their  mere  newness  is  one  of  their 
attractions. 

It  is  always  a  mistake  to  sell  to  customers  goods 
which  they  cannot  readily  dispose  of.  They  are 
sure  ultimately  to  blame  the  salesman  for  having 
taken  advantage  of  them,  and  remember  it 
against  him  often  to  the  extent  of  affecting  their 
business  relations.  It  is  one  thing  to  sell  a  cus- 
tomer close-out  goods,  overstocks,  and  job  lot 
goods  at  prices  in  accordance  with  their  actual 
values,  and  quite  another  thing  to  unload  "stick- 
ers" on  him.  In  the  former  case  the  customer 
buys  at  bargain  prices  and  takes  his  chances  of 
selling  the  goods;  in  the  other  he  forgets  the 


126      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

price  he  paid  and  remembers  only  the  unsalable 
goods. 

By  the  same  token  the  salesman  can  often  be 
of  great  benefit  by  going  over  his  customer's 
stock  of  goods  and  suggesting  where  he  can  save 
money  by  closing  out  certain  dying  articles 
which  are  going  out  of  fashion,  or  by  reducing 
his  overstocks  in  certain  lines,  or  add  to  the 
attractiveness  of  his  line  by  buying  certain  new 
and  desirable  articles.  Very  often  the  dealer  is 
not  a  good  hand  at  merchandising,  either  in  the 
turnover  of  his  stock  or  in  the  assortment,  and 
little  realizes  how  costly  such  neglect  is.  So  the 
salesman  from  his  general  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience can  often  be  of  genuine  benefit  to  his 
customer. 

It  is  even  a  greater  mistake  for  the  salesman 
to  "stuff  orders," — that  is,  to  put  in  his  orders 
goods  which  the  customer  did  not  authorize.  It 
can  lead  only  to  one  thing  and  that  is  trouble, 
and  later  on  the  loss  of  the  confidence  of  the 
customer. 

It  is  not  infrequent  for  the  customer  to  tell  a 
salesman  in  whom  he  has  confidence  to  write 
up  an  order  for  what  the  salesman  thinks  the 
customer  needs.  It  is  shortsighted  to  abuse  this 
privilege  and  overstock  the  customer  so  that  the 
latter  feels  that  his  confidence  has  been  imposed 


SOME   PHASES  OF  SELLING        127 

upon.  Often  the  salesman  can  save  time  by 
making  a  brief  memorandum  of  the  customer's 
wants,  and  writing  up  the  order  afterwards  in 
regular  fashion  at  the  hotel. 

It  is  a  very  good  plan  for  the  salesman  to  en- 
deavor to  persuade  each  customer  at  intervals 
to  go  through  his  catalogue  or  price  list  with  him 
so  that  the  customer  may  be  thoroughly  posted 
as  to  the  line  of  goods  carried  by  the  salesman's 
firm.  It  usually  results  in  the  customer  ordering 
a  number  of  new  articles.  It  is  a  very  difficult 
thing  to  induce  a  customer  to  do  this,  because  it 
demands  both  time  and  patience,  and  the  cus- 
tomer rarely  cares  to  expend  much  of  either  in 
this  fashion  at  his  store  during  business  hours. 
Often  it  has  to  be  done  at  the  hotel  at  night. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

CLAIMS 

Expensiveness  and  unsatisfactoriness  of  claims — Danger 
of  misunderstandings — Salesman's  part  in  adjust- 
ments— Credits  not  to  be  judged  from  superficial 
appearances — Advantage  of  salesman  working  with 
Credit  Department — Relations  of  credit  to  volume 
of  business. 

It  has  been  said  of  claims  that  they  are  the  only 
part  of  business  of  which  the  greater  the  volume 
and  the  more  satisfactory  the  settlement  to  the 
customer,  the  more  unprofitable  the  result.  They 
are  likewise  a  constant  source  of  irritation  both 
to  the  firm  and  customers.  This  proceeds  largely 
from  the  fact  that  they  are  adjusted  principally 
by  correspondence  and  this  is  the  surest  method 
of  prolonging  misunderstandings. 

The  claim  man,  "the  trouble  wagon,"  in  a 
firm  should  be  a  composite  salesman,  credit  man, 
diplomat  and  all  around  "mixer."  He  is  usually 
none  of  these  things,  and  too  often  inexperienced 
in  the  ways  of  human  nature  and  intent  only  in 
getting  the  claim  settled  with  as  little  direct 
pecuniary  loss  to  his  concern  as  possible. 

128 


CLAIMS  129 

The  indirect  results  of  claims  are  the  ones 
most  to  be  avoided  since  they  are  frequently 
of  the  greatest  consequence  and  cause  the  great- 
est loss.  It  is  constantly  impossible  to  locate 
the  fault,  and  upon  this  the  entire  claim  usually 
hangs.  A  retailer  reports  to  his  jobber  that 
there  was  one  box  of  soap  missing  in  a  recent 
shipment.  The  jobber  investigates  and  finds 
that  all  the  records  indicate  that  the  soap  was 
shipped  and  was  packed  in  the  case  containing 
the  other  goods  of  which  the  retailer  acknowl- 
edges receipt.  The  retailer  makes  another  search 
in  the  excelsior  or  hay  used  in  packing  the  other 
goods  but  fails  to  find  the  box  and  so  reports. 
"So  there  you  are."  One  large  well-known  firm 
had  a  simple  and  direct  method  of  settling  such 
claims  by  the  simple  formula,  "the  customer  is 
always  right."  Such  a  policy  is  based  on  the 
belief  that  it  is  cheaper  in  the  long  run  to  grant 
the  claim  whenever  there  is  any  question  of 
doubt  than  to  let  the  matter  decline  into  a  con- 
troversy which  would  probably  result  in  the  loss 
of  the  customer  and  his  future  trade.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  policy  of  the  customer  being  al- 
ways right  is  supposed  to  make  the  customer  a 
firm  friend  to  the  extent  of  securing  his  trade 
for  the  future.  The  question  as  to  whether  such 
gain  is  offset  by  the  comparatively  few  who  take 


i3o      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

advantage  of  this  liberal  policy  to  impose  upon 
the  concern  is  obviously  incapable  of  answer 
since  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  reliable  data. 

The  opportunities  for  misunderstanding  and 
disagreements  on  claims  are  numerous  and  al- 
ways present.  It  is  easy  for  an  incautious  and 
undiplomatic  claim  agent  to  give  offense  to  cus- 
tomers by  seeming  to  doubt  their  word,  or  their 
honesty,  when  all  he  really  doubts  is  their  ac- 
curacy and  when  his  whole  desire  is  merely  to 
ascertain  the  facts  that  he  may  make  settlement 
accordingly. 

Some  dealers  in  small  towns  are  averse  and 
unaccustomed  to  long  correspondence,  and  to 
cross  question  and  argue  with  them  merely  irri- 
tates them,  since  they  do  not  understand  why 
the  claim  is  not  settled  without  further  ado, 
when  they  have  told  the  whole  story  as  they 
see  it,  and  are  entirely  honest  in  their  convic- 
tions as  to  the  justice  of  their  position.  A  good 
many  valuable  and  desirable  accounts  have  been 
lost  to  the  seller  by  the  technical  and  unwise 
manner  in  which  claims  have  been  handled. 

It  must  likewise  be  remembered  that  the 
dealer  in  a  small  town  is  not  and  cannot  be 
aware  of  the  necessary  detail  which  has  to  be 
gone  through  in  any  large  house  before  all  the 
facts  can  be  gathered  in  relation  to  his  claim. 


CLAIMS  131 

Nor  is  he  familiar  with  the  intricate  legal  points 
often  involved  and  is  apt  to  resent  anything  of 
this  nature  being  brought  into  the  discussion. 
Often  all  he  knows  is  that  he  has  a  just  claim, 
from  his  point  of  view,  and  fails  to  see  why  it 
should  not  be  settled. 

It  is  largely  within  the  province  of  the  sales- 
man to  prevent  these  misunderstandings  ever 
coming  to  a  head  by  disposing  of  them  in  their 
incipiency.  In  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  character- 
istics of  the  good  salesman  that  very  few  claims 
from  his  territory  ever  reach  the  home  claims 
department. 

In  the  beginning  of  his  career  the  traveling 
salesman  requests  his  customers  to  hold  all  their 
claims  until  he  comes  around  and  he  will  settle 
them  promptly.  He  is  on  the  spot  and  can  size  up 
the  situation,  and  get  the  facts  far  better  than  can 
be  done  by  correspondence.  He  knows  his  cus- 
tomers and  can  tell  whether  they  are  sincere  or 
are  trying  to  "work"  him,  whether  they  are 
careless  and  superficial,  or  careful  and  accurate. 
He  also  can  overcome  that  curious  feeling  which 
exists  in  some  dealers  that  the  large  concern 
can  better  afford  the  loss  than  the  smaller  con- 
cern and  should,  therefore,  stand  it.  He  makes 
the  settlement  as  though  it  were  his  own,  and 
brings  his  personal  equation  into  the  transaction 


132      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

as  of  one  man  to  another.  Such  concessions  as 
he  makes,  in  a  disputed  case,  are  usually  far  less 
than  are  apt  to  be  finally  yielded  in  correspond- 
ence, as  a  matter  of  policy,  and  then  often  with- 
out removing  the  feeling  created  by  the  mis- 
understanding. The  salesman  has  his  firm's 
interest  at  heart,  and  because  of  its  being  a 
personal  deal  between  him  and  his  customer  it 
usually  ends  in  being  satisfactory  to  the  customer 
and  reflecting  to  the  credit  of  the  house.  The 
matter  of  the  claim  thus  becomes  merely  the 
matter  of  a  discussion  between  two  people  who 
know  each  other  well,  and  the  usual  result  is  a 
prompt  settlement,  in  lieu  of  what  might  have 
developed  into  a  long  drawn  out  correspondence 
with  an  unsatisfactory  termination.  The  sales- 
man makes  the  settlement  often  more  easily 
than  the  claim  man  in  the  home  firm,  because 
he  knows  the  customer  and  his  peculiarities  and 
because  it  is  always  easier  to  make  arrangements 
and  to  settle  differences  by  personal  contact 
than  by  correspondence. 

CREDITS 

The  modern  methods  of  ascertaining  the  true 
financial  conditions  of  most  business  organiza- 
tions are  so  complete,  and  on  the  whole  so  re- 
liable that  the  manufacturer  or  wholesale  jobber 


CLAIMS  133 

who  loses  an  undue  proportion  of  his  sales 
through  bad  debts  is  guilty  of  poor  judgment  or 
great  negligence  or  both.  Not  so  with  the  re- 
tailer whose  means  of  ascertaining  the  true  finan- 
cial state  of  his  customers  are  very  scanty,  and 
are  often  merely  those  of  hearsay  and  common 
report.  We  frequently  see  this  illustrated  in  the 
career  of  individuals  who  go  through  the  world, 
obtaining  credit  with  but  little  difficulty  and 
making  a  great  show  of  well-being  until  death 
or  some  economic  or  social  calamity  discloses 
the  mockery  of  their  pretensions.  Added  to  this 
usual  inability  to  get  accurate  knowledge  is  the 
fear  common  to  many  retailers  of  losing  trade 
by  being  too  insistent  in  their  collections.  Es- 
pecially is  this  the  case  in  small  towns  where 
dealers  fear  to  give  offense  to  those  who  stand 
high  in  the  community  and  whose  influence  is 
such  that  it  may  be  an  expensive  thing  to  incur 
their  ill  will  even  though  they  are  slow  in  settling 
their  accounts. 

The  close  collector  is  not  necessarily  one  who, 
like  Pharoah  of  old,  hardens  his  heart,  but  rather 
one  who  has  moral  courage  to  ask  that  which  is 
due  him  and  for  no  other  reason  than  it  is  his 
because  it  is  due. 

The  wholesaler  must  take  these  and  other 
characteristics  and  peculiarities  of  the  retail 


134      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

dealer  into  consideration  in  extending  credit, 
and  there  is  no  one  who  can  better  assist  him  in 
reaching  true  conclusions  than  his  traveling 
salesman.  In  such  matters  the  salesman  must 
bear  in  mind  that  his  natural  tendency  is  to  sell 
goods  and  to  shift  the  burden  of  collecting  for 
these  goods  upon  the  credit  man.  This  is  why 
some  firms  in  making  credits  to  the  salesman  for 
his  profits,  likewise  give  him  demerits  for  the 
bad  debts  he  incurs  for  the  concern.  The  sales- 
man must  likewise  remember  that,  much  as  he 
desires  to  sell  goods,  he  is  doing  a  very  unwise 
and  calamitous  thing  to  sell  them  to  a  new  cus- 
tomer without  first  investigating  that  custom- 
er's financial  standing.  There  are  various  ways 
of  finding  this  out  that  give  the  salesman  a  fair 
measure  of  his  customer's  status.  Is  the  dealer 
prompt  in  collecting  from  his  customers  or  does 
he  allow  their  accounts  to  run  and  thus  fail  to 
provide  himself  with  funds  to  meet  his  obliga- 
tions? Is  he  a  borrower  from  the  banks,  and  if 
so  to  what  extent,  and  what  does  he  pledge  in 
the  way  of  collateral  ?  Does  he  carry  sufficient 
fire  insurance  policies  on  his  store  buildings  and 
contents,  on  his  stocks  of  merchandise,  and  also 
on  his  own  home,  if  he  has  one?  Has  he  any 
mortgages  on  his  store  building,  his  stock  of 
merchandise,  and  his  own  home, — and  if  so,  to 


CLAIMS  135 

what  extent?  Does  he  take  advantage  of  cash 
discounts  in  his  purchases,  and  does  he  pay  his 
bills  promptly  when  due?  Has  he  insurance  on 
his  own  life,  if  so,  to  what  extent,  and  does  he 
meet  his  premiums  promptly  when  due?  Has 
he  many  overstocks,  slow-moving  goods,  and 
dead  stocks  in  which  he  has  too  much  capital 
invested  for  the  good  of  his  business?  Last 
and  most  vital  of  all,  what  are  the  customer's 
habits,  and  what  is  his  character?  For  in  the 
final  analysis,  sales  and  loans  are  made  on  char- 
acter more  than  on  any  other  one  factor. 

The  answers  to  these  questions  determine  the 
financial  status  of  the  customer  and  the  extent 
to  which  it  is  safe  or  unsafe  to  sell  to  him.  They 
are  likewise  the  points  upon  which  the  sales- 
man's firm  most  desires  to  be  posted,  and  upon 
which  he  can  be  their  best  means  of  information. 
Nor  are  they  so  difficult  to  find  out  as  might 
seem  at  first  blush,  especially  where  the  salesman 
pursues  his  inquiries  with  tact  and  discretion. 
In  many  cases  the  customer  himself  will  tell  the 
whole  story  to  a  salesman  in  whom  he  has  con- 
fidence. It  is  often  because  of  this  confidence 
that  the  salesman  is  able  to  determine  at 
times,  even  better  than  his  credit  department, 
that  it  is  both  wise  and  profitable  to  carry 
the  customer  over  a  period  of  distress  when 


136      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

on  the  face  of  affairs  it  may  not  seem  safe  to 
do  so. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  well-posted  salesman 
will  advise  his  house  that  it  is  high  time  to  col- 
lect from  some  customers,  and  to  collect 
promptly,  sometimes  through  the  medium  of 
the  salesman,  that  there  be  no  delay.  It  is  a 
distinguishing  mark  of  a  good  salesman  that 
his  house  does  not  have  many  bad  debts  in  his 
territory,  since  he  uses  the  knowledge  he  pos- 
sesses of  his  customers'  affairs  to  see  that  they 
do  not  "get  into  him"  too  deeply  and  that  he 
sells  to  them  from  time  to  time  only  as  they 
keep  paid  up. 

What  the  salesman  soon  realizes  and  perceives 
is  the  vast  importance  of  a  credit  policy  which 
will  permit  him  to  sell  freely  and  thus  extend 
the  volume  of  his  sales  and  yet  not  incur  undue 
risks.  He  must  always  remember,  however,  to 
keep  a  curb  on  his  natural  inclination,  which  is 
to  sell  all  the  goods  he  can  and  let  the  credit  de- 
partment walk  the  floor  about  collecting  the 
bills.  Knowing  his  people  and  his  territory  he 
can  be  of  great  help  and  assistance  to  the  credit 
department  by  the  information  he  can  give  it 
as  to  the  danger  of  the  risks  it  may  run,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  chances  which  it  can  safely 
take  with  certain  customers.  In  agricultural 


CLAIMS  137 

sections  it  often  pays  the  wholesaler  to  take  long 
chances  with  some  of  his  customers  in  whom  he 
has  confidence,  because  one  or  two  good  crop 
years  will  compensate  for  as  many  bad  ones, 
and,  on  the  whole,  make  the  chances  taken  a 
paying  proposition. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE    HUMAN    EQUATION 

Faculty  of  making  friends — Enduring  nature  of  business 
friendships — Cultivating  the  good  will  of  the  clerks — 
Keeping  in  touch  with  his  firm — The  study  of  the 
average  man — Influence  of  the  traveling  salesman — 
His  mission — Insight  into  conditions  and  their  trend. 

When  all  has  been  said,  the  story  of  salesman- 
ship is  the  tale  of  personality,  albeit  there  is 
needed  much  method  and  system  and  a  de- 
veloped art,  much  patient  detail  and  ceaseless 
industry,  to  bring  the  story  to  a  successful 
ending. 

MAKING  FRIENDS 

One  of  the  greatest  assets  in  life  is  the  faculty 
of  making  friends.  By  this,  however,  is  not 
meant  the  smile  of  mere  veneer,  which  fools  no 
one  but  its  possessor,  nor  that  typical  hail- 
fellow,  well-met,  of  the  politician's  stripe,  who 
has  guile  for  his  compelling  motive.  The  seeking 
of  popularity  which  springs  from  the  selfish  mo- 
tive of  the  hope  of  advancement  soon  gets  its 
proper  measure  by  the  world  in  general,  and 

138 


THE  HUMAN  EQUATION  139 

verily  it  has  its  reward.  Enduring  friendships 
are  founded  on  a  deeper  basis  than  this,  and 
so  too  are  even  those  casual  acquaintance- 
ships whose  cheery  greetings  are  a  large  part  of 
the  traveling  salesman's  existence.  It  is  per- 
fectly true  that  it  pays  to  make  friends  of  the 
Mammon  of  Uprighteousness  in  the  shape  of 
passing  humanity,  but  it  is  equally  true  that 
many  friendships  so  made  take  on  a  more  serious 
phase  and  develop  into  a  genuine  liking.  The 
real  reward  of  such  friendships  is  not  the  ma- 
terial advantages  which  so  often  accrue,  but  the 
reactions  of  the  salesman  himself. 

It  is  a  familiar  saying  that  happiness  is  found 
only  in  the  dictionary,  yet  the  awakened  interest 
in  others,  which  the  exercise  of  friendly  ways 
and  actions  stirs  in  the  man  himself,  insensibly 
infuses  sincerity  in  all  the  outward  expressions 
of  a  kindly  spirit.  Whatever  may  be  the  original 
motive  which  inspires  the  traveling  salesman  to 
make  himself  popular,  the  usual  result  is  the 
formation  of  many  genuine  friendships  which 
outlast  business  contact.  Furthermore,  there 
are  not  many  successful  salesmen  who  are  un- 
popular on  their  routes,  for  being  so,  handicaps 
them  at  every  turn.  The  train  men  and  hotel 
clerks  with  whom  the  salesman  is  in  constant 
contact  can  do  him  good  or  ill  turns,  depending 


140      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

upon  whether  they  like  or  dislike  him.  They 
can,  and  do,  tell  him  of  new  stocks  to  be  sold, 
of  how  to  approach  various  customers,  of  the 
movements  of  his  competitors,  of  the  financial 
standing  and  report  of  certain  firms,  and  of 
numerous  other  matters  of  moment.  They  take 
a  friendly  interest  in  him  if  they  like  him,  or  they 
let  him  alone,  save  with  bare  civility,  if  they  do 
not.  In  their  likes  they  sense  the  quality  of  his 
friendliness,  whether  it  be  genuine  kindliness,  or 
the  mere  suits  and  trappings  of  shallow  pretense. 
In  his  own  case  his  sincere  interest  in  others 
brings  the  genuine  reward  of  the  discovery  of 
certain  kinds  of  knowledge,  or  of  interesting 
characteristics  unsuspectedly  possessed  by  those 
who  at  first  seemed  mere  common-place  clods  of 
humanity.  Most  important  of  all  is  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  salesman's  friendship  with  his 
customers,  for  contrary  to  an  impression  prev- 
alent among  many,  such  friendships  are  both 
general  and  enduring.  It  is  a  common  saying 
among  traveling  men  that  there  is  serious  danger 
of  disrupting  friendships  begun  socially  by  after- 
wards entering  into  business  relations,  although 
the  most  enduring  friendships  are  those  com- 
menced as  mere  business  acquaintances  and 
gradually  ripening  into  mutual  regard.  Prob- 
ably the  reason  is  that  such  business  relations 


THE  HUMAN  EQUATION  141 

form  a  solid  ground  of  common  respect,  without 
which  most  friendships  are  frail  and  ephemeral 
affairs.  Such  friendships  are  not  only  the  surest 
basis  of  continued  business  relations,  but  they 
do  much  to  relieve  the  tedium  and  monotony  of 
the  traveling  man's  life.  The  real  reasons  for 
these  friendships  are  often  not  realized  nor 
analyzed  by  the  contracting  parties. 

Far  more  than  he  suspects  is  the  traveling 
salesman  interesting  to  the  customer,  because  he 
brings  to  him  the  story  of  other  people  and  other 
places.  He  is  essentially  cosmopolitan  in  his 
attitude  of  manner  and  of  thought,  though 
all  unconsciously,  because  he  mingles  constantly 
with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  and  women. 
Through  his  house  he  has  the  latest  and  best 
things  in  his  line  and  is  in  touch  with  modern 
conditions  and  methods  of  business.  He  knows 
how  to  impart  this  information,  not  didactically, 
nor  with  the  air  of  superior  knowledge,  but  as  a 
matter  of  friendly  interest.  For  there  are  few, 
however  apparently  stolid  or  indifferent,  who 
do  not  really  crave  knowledge  when  told  in  terms 
of  their  own  living.  The  consequent  influence 
of  the  traveling  men  with  their  customers  is 
but  little  understood  and  realized.  While  it  is 
evasive  and  seemingly  indefinite,  it  is  none  the 
less  real  and  significant,  for  it  proceeds  from  the 


i42     TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

friendly  clash  of  two  minds  who  know  and  sym- 
pathize with  each  other  and  speak  in  terms  of 
mutual  understanding.  Moreover,  their  inter- 
ests are  absolutely  identical. 

The  traveling  salesman  cannot  profit  unless 
his  customers  prosper,  and  the  dealer  owes  much 
of  his  welfare  to  the  direct  and  indirect  influences 
on  the  salesman.  The  result  is  seen  in  the  pres- 
ent steady  growth  of  both  salesman  and  dealer 
in  correct  business  ways  and  methods,  and  the 
constant  widening  of  their  mental  horizons.  It 
is  an  axiom  in  business  that  one  can  often  learn 
from  the  practices  of  one's  competitors.  So  the 
traveling  salesman  carries  with  him  from  town 
to  town  and  from  dealer  to  dealer  the  story, 
gathered  by  his  keen  observation,  of  successful 
ways  and  new  methods.  He  can,  therefore,  from 
practical  study  make  constant  suggestions  to  his 
customers  of  better  ways  of  merchandising,  of 
advertising,  of  selling,  and  of  handling  em- 
ployees. In  this  latter  respect  the  salesman 
finds  it  both  wise  and  profitable  to  be  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  clerks  of  the  dealer.  They  al- 
ways like  and  appreciate  such  attention  when 
tactfully  bestowed,  and  repay  in  kind.  They 
put  the  salesman  "wise"  to  bills  he  can  sell, 
and  to  goods  that  are  needed  which  the  "old 
man"  may  have  overlooked. 


THE  HUMAN  EQUATION  143 

One  of  the  most  successful  salesmen  of  many 
traveled  for  a  large  jobbing  house  in  the  Central 
West,  over  2,500  miles  from  his  home  base,  yet 
he  sold  many  goods  and  many  profitable  goods 
as  well.  One  of  his  best  "stunts"  was  teaching 
the  clerks  at  odd  moments  in  the  stores  he  called 
upon  how  to  sell  goods,  and  especially  such 
profitable  goods  as  he  sold  the  dealers.  He  made 
it  evident  that  thereby  they  found  favor  in  the 
eyes  of  their  employers,  because  they  added  to 
their  employers'  profits,  and  at  the  same  time 
increased  their  own  chances  of  advancement.  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  the  results  cemented  the 
liking  of  both  employers  and  clerks  for  this 
salesman. 

In  the  freemasonry  which  prevails  among  the 
tribe  of  traveling  men  there  is  constant  knowl- 
edge and  experience  to  be  acquired  from  the 
salesmen  in  other  non-competing  lines.  They 
often  impart  most  valuable  information  of  op- 
portunities in  lines  in  which  they  are  not  inter- 
ested, and  their  friendliness  and  good  report 
are  valuable  assets  to  any  salesman.  There  is  no 
formula  for  making  friends,  especially  those  who 
wear  well.  The  don'ts  are  numerous,  and  include 
the  minor  vices  and  petty  faults  as  well  as  the 
greater  ones.  Especially  are  there  barred  all  the 
ways  of  deceit,  treachery,  deviousness,  and  all 


144      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

the  evil  crop  of  lying  and  envy.  Tact  and  di- 
plomacy go  far,  but  probably  sincerity  and  good 
faith  are  the  surest  foundations. 

In  the  salesman's  contact  with  his  firm  he  must 
ever  have  in  mind  his  house  as  his  first  and  best 
concern,  and  the  one  to  which  his  loyalty  is  due. 
The  more  he  gains  and  deserves  the  confidence 
of  his  own  people  the  more  latitude  will  be  given 
him  and  the  greater  will  be  his  scope  in  all  mat- 
ters. The  salesman  is  judged  by  results,  and 
the  more  satisfactory  these  results,  the  wider 
play  will  be  permitted  his  ability  and  his  per- 
sonality. He  will  find  it  wise  to  come  in  at  in- 
tervals and  get  freshened  up  with  the  knowledge 
of  new  things  which  he  learns  from  the  buyers 
and  managers  of  his  own  house.  He  needs  these 
revivifying  experiences,  lest  he  grow  weary  and 
callous  and  indifferent  because  of  the  ceaseless 
competition  and  the  never  ending  fight  for 
business.  He  learns  to  take  account  of  stock  of 
himself,  his  ways  and  methods,  and  to  discern 
wherein  he  has  been  slipping,  and  wherein  he 
has  fallen  down.  He  thus  sees  where  new  oppor- 
tunities can  be  seized,  not  only  as  to  the  possi- 
bilities of  his  territory,  but  likewise  as  to  the 
amount  and  nature  of  the  goods  he  can  sell. 
Personal  contact  with  the  buyers  and  officials 
of  his  house  gives  him  an  opportunity  for  assist- 


THE  HUMAN  EQUATION  145 

ing  them  in  their  purchases  by  cooperating  in 
those  goods  they  wish  to  push.  Also,  he  can 
give  much  information  as  to  the  competition  he 
encounters,  and  thus  put  the  buyers  on  the 
track  of  procuring  better  or  cheaper  goods  and 
prices  in  order  to  enable  the  salesman  to  meet 
the  competition  which  distresses  him.  There  is 
also  the  exchange  of  knowledge  with  the  credit 
and  collection  departments  as  to  different  cus- 
tomers, the  state  of  their  accounts,  and  the  line 
of  credit  to  which  they  are  entitled.  Finally 
there  is  the  restatement  of  the  policy  of  the 
concern  with  the  heads  of  the  firm  and  what 
they  expect  the  salesman  to  stand  for  a  while 
on  the  road. 

VISION  AND  ANALYSIS 

It  has  ever  been  the  earmark  of  those  writers 
of  genius,  who  make  an  enduring  appeal,  that 
they  write  of  those  things  whereof  they  know, 
and  their  story  is  that  of  observation,  experience 
and  insight.  It  has  been  so  from  the  dim  historic 
scribes  of  the  Old  Testament  to  Robert  Burns 
and  Rudyard  Kipling  of  modern  times.  So  the 
education  of  the  traveling  man  is  that  which 
comes  from  the  unconscious  study  of  the  homely 
people  and  the  homely  things  which  he  has 
round  about  him  in  his  ceaseless  daily  travels. 


146     TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

Thus  is  he  the  observer  and  student  par  excel- 
lence not  only  of  material  conditions,  but  of  the 
trend  of  thought  among  his  people.  It  is  upon 
his  intelligent  analysis  of  these  factors  in  busi- 
ness life  that  his  daily  bread  depends.  The 
story  of  the  crops,  of  industrial  life,  of  mining 
interests,  of  the  probable  cut  of  lumber,  and  of 
the  enterprises  of  construction  and  development, 
are  matters  of  vital  moment  to  him  personally 
and  to  his  house  as  well  as  to  the  nation  at  large. 
He  must  have  a  thorough  comprehension  not 
alone  of  present  business  conditions  in  his  terri- 
tory, but  of  all  the  likelihoods  and  possibilities 
of  the  future.  Vision  must  follow  hard  upon 
analysis  if  the  salesman  is  to  have  a  clear  con- 
ception of  whether  the  territory  in  which  his  lot 
is  cast  is  to  be  worth  while  for  a  long  pull  and  a 
long  stay,  for  some  territories  have  their  possi- 
bilities clearly  defined  as  to  the  amount  of  busi- 
ness that  can  be  got  out  of  them.  To  the  am- 
bitious salesman  such  a  territory  may  be  all  too 
small  for  his  pent-up  ambition,  save  as  a  school 
wherein  he  may  make  good  and  thus  be  called 
to  a  wider  sphere. 

In  sober  truth  the  traveling  salesman  is  a  mis- 
sionary, though  often  an  unconscious  one,  in 
many  things.  He  is  naturally  in  sympathy  with 
progressive  ways  and  methods  and  brings  to  the 


THE  HUMAN  EQUATION  147 

dealers  in  the  small  town  the  wider  vision  of  one 
in  constant  contact  with  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men.  His  influence  in  great  national  ques- 
tions was  well  illustrated  in  the  recent  war  when 
he  was  an  apostle  of  patriotism,  instinctively  so, 
because  he  could  see  no  other  way  out. 

So  it  happens  that  the  traveling  salesman  is 
beyond  question  the  most  accurate,  the  most 
dependable  of  all  observers  of  the  conditions  and 
the  people  on  his  route.  This  is  a  fact  but  little 
realized,  and  of  which  as  a  rule  but  scant  use 
is  made.  The  knowledge  he  thus  acquires  of 
men  and  things  comes  from  constant  contact 
and  observation,  and  unconsciously  imbues  and 
permeates  his  entire  thought  and  purpose.  He 
naturally  drifts  into  the  habit  of  endeavoring  to 
forecast  the  future  of  his  territory  from  the 
workings  of  the  daily  forces  round  about  him, 
for  in  such  forecast  his  own  fortunes  are  bound 
up.  So  he  is  sure,  all  unconsciously,  to  become 
an  apostle  of  progress,  though  of  the  persuasive 
rather  than  the  fiery  type;  for  his  teachings  are 
never  obtrusively  obvious,  but  rather  along  the 
lines  of  persuasion  and  somewhat  rare  advice. 

In  the  days  of  not  long  ago  when  first  the  in- 
vasion of  the  cotton  boll  weevil  seemingly 
threatened  the  agricultural  existence  of  the 
South,  the  traveling  salesman  was  the  first  to 


148      TRAVELING  SALESMANSHIP 

perceive  the  marvelous  regeneration  and  re- 
making of  Southern  economic  and  social  life 
that  lay  concealed  in  this  apparently  dire  menace. 
So  it  is  that  often  the  territory  whose  business 
possibilities  are  seemingly  narrow  and  circum- 
scribed contains  for  him  the  possibilities  that 
come  only  from  analysis  and  vision.  Fortunately 
for  the  truth  and  certainty  of  his  vision  as  af- 
fecting his  own  future,  he  has  the  unusual  char- 
acteristic— said  to  have  been  a  dominant  trait  in 
George  Washington — of  always  looking  facts 
squarely  in  the  face.  He  seldom  dwells  in  a 
Fool's  Paradise,  nor  yet  in  Castles  in  Spain,  for 
his  abiding  common  sense  tells  him  that  facts 
are  the  only  things  worth  considering  in  the  long 
run,  unless  he  is  willing  to  essay  the  role  of  the 
bluffer  and  the  four-flusher  in  a  gamble  with  fate. 
There  is  enough  romance  and  interest  in  the 
seemingly  homely  facts  of  everyday  life,  if  one 
has  only  power  of  analysis  and  vision  to  under- 
stand their  meaning  and  their  possibilities. 

THE   ULTIMATE    END 

The  great  handicap  to  the  true  comprehension 
of  the  real  nature  and  purpose  of  the  calling  of 
the  traveling  salesman  is  that  it  is  too  constantly 
undertaken  as  a  mere  prelude  to  other  careers. 
It  is  true  enough  that  the  experience  gained 


THE  HUMAN  EQUATION  149 

on  the  road  is  often  the  best  possible  prepara- 
tion for  the  highest  responsibilities  of  business 
life,  and  many  salesmen  engage  in  traveling 
as  a  stepping  stone  to  less  onerous  and  more 
remunerative  positions.  It  is  a  saying  among 
traveling  men  that  the  salesman  is  always  going 
to  quit  the  road  next  year.  In  sober  truth  it  is, 
when  viewed  from  the  outside,  largely  a  monot- 
onous and  prosaic  life,  full  of  endless  work  and 
ceaseless  motion,  accompanied  by  constant  rep- 
etition, and  apparently  getting  nowhere  when 
the  sum  of  it  all  is  cast  up.  It  is  looked  upon  as 
the  antithesis  of  domesticity,  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  those  homelike  ways  which  are  supposed 
to  sanctify  a  man's  life.  Yet  equally  in  sober 
truth,  as  in  every  other  phase  of  life,  the  matters 
of  most  moment  are  the  story  of  experience  and 
the  satisfaction  of  things  done.  The  life  of  the 
salesman  is  taken  up  in  perpetual  study  of  human 
nature  and  an  equally  perpetual  accomplishment 
of  an  extraordinarily  difficult  task,  and  success 
in  these  must  ever  be  his  true  and  lasting  reward. 


INDEX 


Advertiser,  119 
Advertising,  119,  120 
Agencies,  92 

establishing,  88,  90,  95 
Analysis,  147,  148 
Anti-trust  laws,  65 
Arguments,  38 
Articles,  13 

advertised,  120,  1 21 

demand  for,  13 

new,  125 

Baits,  59 
Bargain,  59,  78 
Business,  2 

legitimate,  106,  109 
Buyer,  i,  2,  3,  42,  59,  60, 
70,  71,  72,  73,  74,  95 

Catalogue,  15 

Claim  agent,  128,  130 

Claims,  26,  128,  129,  130 

reports  of,  26 
Clerical  work,  25,  27,  28 
Collector,  133 
Collective  car  lots,  116 
Competitive,  7,  45,  46,  48, 


Competitor,  47,  73,  94 
Complications,  92,  93 
Confidence,  36 
Consolidations,  62 
Conviction,  122 
Cooperation,  69 
Credit  policy,  136 
Credits,  133,  134 
Crisis,  66 
Customers,  7,  1 8,  23,  30,  31, 

44>  53>  97>  H3>  Il8> 
126,  127,  129,  135, 
136,  141,  142 

contact  with,  7 

dealing  with,  42 

entertaining,  40 

Dealers,  i,   22,   23,  43,  47, 

49>  53>  78,  91,  92>  96> 

loo,  130, 142 
Deference,  34 
Diplomacy,  21,  38 
Distribution,  61,  105 
Drummers,  4 

Ease,  54 
Embroideries,  n 


152 


INDEX 


Engagements,  37 

keeping,  37 
Expense,  62 

accounts,  26 
Experience,  21 

Firms,  112 
Friends,  138,  140 
making,  139 
Futures,  113,  114,  116,  118 

Goods,  n,  51,  76,  78,  125 

dress,  51 

familiarity  with,  1 1 

profitable,  no 

seasonable,  113,  115,  117 

selling,  18,  19,  25,  110 

unsalable,  125 
Grain  pits,  64. 

House,  44 

Human  equation,  8,  54,  59 

Human  nature,   12,  42,  73 

Impatience,  23 
Industry,  28 

Jobber,  6,  16,  89,  91,   107, 
129 

Laces,  n 
Law,  65 

restraint  of,  65 
Letters,  26 


Limitations,  107 

of  stock,  107 
Loyalty,  123,  144 

Market,  2 

buyers,  2 

stock,  64 

Misunderstandings,  35 
Modesty,  24 
Money,  42 

borrowing,  42,  43 

Neatness,  37 

Orders,  26,  27 
articles  on,  27 
future,  117 
memoranda  of,  26 
rush,  115 
stuff,  126 

Patience,  24 
Personal  element,  56 
Prices,  7,  45,  54,  57,  60,  61, 
69,  71,  74,  101,  102,  103 

alleged  low,  71 

bargain,  59 

quantity,  104 

question  of,  85 

stabilizing,  64,  66 
Production,  61,  81 
Propinquity,  54 
Purchaser,  30 

Quality,  57,  58 


INDEX 


Repetition,  33 
Respect,  35,  36 
Retailer,  115,  120,  129 
Revolution,  107 

economic,  107 
Road,  7 

preparation  for,  7 

work  on,  7,  17 
Route,  20 

salesman's,  20 

Sales,  2,  54,  80 

Salesman,  3,  5,  6,  10,  12,  14, 

i$>  i7-33>  35>  36,  41- 
52,  59,  63,  68-76,  78, 
83,  84,  85,  86,  90,  91, 
93,  96-101,  103,  109, 

IIO,  III,  112,  115,  117, 

118,  120-123,  126,  127, 
130,  134,  135,  136,  139, 
141,  144,  146,  147,  149 

classes  for,  13 

definition  of,  6 

essentials  of,  10 

personality  of,  49 

prospective,  14 

special,  50-51 
Salesmanship,  I,  2,  3,  4,  41, 

,87 

aim  of,  no 
art  of,  3 
definition,  I,  2 
factors  in,  28 


Salesmanship,  function,  I,  6 

importance,  4 

nature  of,  I,  4,  6 

principle,  4 

purpose  of,  1 10 

reason,  I 

science,  4 

test  of,  68 

Samples,  28,29,30,31,33 
Schedules,  20 

train,  20 
Seller,  i 
Selling,  8,  58,  80 

phases  of,  8 

purpose  of,  68 

stock,  86 
Service,  54,  57,  58 

quality  of,  56 
Sincerity,  32 
Stickers,  125 

Tact,  21,  38 
Territory,  17 

covering,  71 
Towns,  20 

high  grass,  20 
Trade,  38 

Traveling  man,  22,  45 
Trouble  wagon,  128 

Vision,  145,  146,  148 

Want  book,  19 
Wholesaler,  133 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


NOV    6  1947 

JAN    22  1948 
FEB     6  1948 


LD  2l-100m-12,'46(A20 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


